BUT I feel pretty smart! For under ten bucks including shipping, I got Lucky Ducky Flower Garden seeds, Pink Cactus Flower Garden seeds, and some Shasta Daisy type seeds. The lady was very nice and she included extra seeds.

I have searched for Pink Cactus Dahlia and many fall into that quality, but none I could find are NAMED "Pink Cactus." I'm assuming that this is a collection of Pink Dahlias of the cactus kind. So I will be excited to see what I get when they bloom.

I love roses, Dahlias, and in a bouquet Daisies set them all of beautifully! Now the question is, can I grow these things from seed? I may not be feeling so smart in a month or two!

Sounds like you are off to a beautiful Garden!

I am not sure what type of seeds these are, are they comercial grade, garanteed to grow true to the description, or are they someones home grown seed?

I have grown both Daisys and Dahlias from seed in the past, and I have a full window full of more this year!

I found i had terrible germination with the Dahlia seeds last year, but this year they have been great! (Different brand). The daisys though, they just about grow themselves!

I like using peat pellets, because they are easy and you can start a whole bunch in such a small area, providing good lighting ect is a lot easier when they are condensed!

For the daisys, I would suggest putting 2-3 seeds just under the surface of the dirt, and keep moist, but not "wet". They should come up real quick, may see some in a few days, They should all be up in 2 weeks. What you do is grow on the plants, then pinch out the weaker ones after you know they are going to take off.

For the dahlias, the same advice can be followed, however I may suggest planting them one to a pellet, and then if they don't germinate, you can use the pellet for something else Now, you don't "have" to use pellets, but the same placement can be followed. I do this because I would hate to waste a dahlia by pinching it out! And I am a little cheap!!

One thing you want to look out for is damping off, a fungus that attacks the base of new seedlings. I find if I don't treat my seedlings, they grow for a couple weeks, look fantastic, I wake up the next morning and BAM, I have lost 30-90% of them! I use a product called "No Damp" but i have heard Chamomile tea in a spray bottle works well.

With a lot of seeds I have found heating them from the bottom can help germination. One thing I do with stubborn seeds if a few weeks have gone by and I don't see any sprouts is I place them on a rack, over a heating register. Others use a heating pad. But, with these varieties it should be unnessisary.

The biggest downfall may be lighting, I suggest getting some floresent lights that can be adjusted to keep them the right temp / correctly exposed, or hold off on starting them until they can be moved outside in short order...
The most important thing, is have fun!

I'm not going to go into breeding. Just love the cut flowers in a bouquet.
I live in the so ca desert. It is always light here, so light is not a problem. Wind is the biggest problem. Thinking of putting some grape vines in, and anchoring my dahlias between the grapes.

Suzi

One of them is from Ivory Palaces, but other than that it's a toss up as to what plant they came from. Could be fun.

If you don't mind unnamed varieties, check out your local Sam's Club or equivalent, if you have one. I went to Sam's Club this weekend and picked up a box of 12 tubers for approximately $15! Not a bad price, I thought!

Carla