Good to see you are producing some big ones.

Actually I have 6 AA varieties and 4 A's, but everything is just so darn slow.

Cheers,
Russ

Bold colours.... just like a gladiator

FWIW, my Gladiator has managed to make its way to 10", not bad as a first bloom. I've been documenting its journey. The link at the bottom of the message is to a video I've done with a 6 day progression of the bloom.

Here's what it looks like today, day 6 since it bloomed.

{{gwi:646764}}
Gladiator (AAID): 12" diameter flower on 60" bush.

Cheers,
Russ

Here is a link that might be useful: Gladiator 6 day progression.

Nice flower Russ. I love those huge buds that look like a main course, they're so big. Looks like it has good stems to hold them up too. Well done!

Thanks Poochella, this one is definitely going on my favorites list. The plant is very well formed, blooms early, and the color...well, as you see. I particularly like the longer stems...as in longer than the Purple Taiheijo/Papageno families. Seems like there's no chance that a bloom will get buried in the foilage as I've seen in some of my other AA's.

Cheers,
Russ

I think I have this one. There has got to be a way to mark my dahlias. I have bought all the pens that are supposed to be waterproof. Some of the tags are just gone. Chipmuncks.

pdshop,

FWIW, the pens I bought from Lee Valley did not stand up when used on their wooden stakes, the writing faded to red and then disappeared.

What has worked is the drawing I did of the beds. I just drew a very vague representation of the bed, and indicated where and what each Dahlia were. Worked like a charm, and nobody can muck it up. I did it in Excel so I don't even have to worry about losing the paper. Even worked on my 100+ bed.

Cheers,
Russ

That is really great. Thhanks. as I mentioned before ion the site, I got about 6 dahlias that were not what I ordered. It is so annoying when I try and do a color scheme. At least they are pretty and healthy. In MA., we have had driving rains for days and I am so worried about the tubers. Everything is staked well though.