very beautiful!

I am jealous! I wish there was a rock star in my house! Seriously I do! I don't have any dahlias anywhere close to blooming. When did you start them? I started planting some in the ground last night since the weather has been really warm lately (up to 89 degrees today) and looks to stay warm from now on. Most of mine are only about 8-10 inches tall. Hopefully they will really take off now that they are planted. When do you plant yours in the ground?

Linda

I was starting them the first week of March by the latest. It wasn't what I wanted to do, and seriously they are tooooo big now. It's going to be difficult to transplant them, and I have at least another week to wait, if not more. I haven't even gotten the taller ones out to harden off...it's just been too windy. I thought today was safe for the shorter ones, but while I was working in the greenhouse the wind came off and really whipped them around. Hopefully they all perk back up.

I have all of mine out side and most in their summer homes. But only CHILSON�S PRIDE and GRAND FINALE have broken the soil. The ones I started in the house are big now, but no where near blooming.

Mytime - what kind of lighting do you use for your dahlias inside? I have had most of mine just on a window sill, where they are obviously not getting enough light - ie: tall thin spindly stalks. I plan on cutting them down when I plant them out, but I am thinking I need to have a real lighting system if I am going to get them out a month before they go into the ground. Right now all of my fluorescent shop lights are being used for seedlings.

I have too many for me to use any artificial lighting, so they just go into my west and south windows. Actually, this year some had to go into the northwest window, too. I find it depends on the variety whether or not it needs more light. A couple of my cactus that I grew from seed and keep the tubers of are waaay to tall; I was just trying to decide this am if I should cut them back or not--I should, but I decided instead to stake really well and enjoy blooms! The varieties in the nw window are actually not leggy at all. I am blessed with great light in the spring, and windows to take advantage of it.

Thanks for the response - What seems so weird to me is that I have about a dozen tubers that I didnt pot up - they were extras or hadnt eyed up yet. THey have just been sitting in baggies with a little potting mix, on my desk in my work shop. They are looking incredibly healthy. only 6" sprouts, but sturdier and greener leaves than the ones I potted up and put in the window. There is a fluorescent light above the desk, but at least 5 feet away. I definitely need to make some changes in how I do this next year.