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Sun, Sep 3, 06 at 21:29
| I'm in Northern New Jersey, and for the first time this year I ordered and planted a variety of Dahlia plants. Only one has put out a lot of blooms (Amber Queen). Fire Magic has produced exactly two flowers. It and a couple of other varieties (Buffie G , Ruskin Gypsy & Cornel) have produced some little buds that are sitting there doing nothing. Is it early in the bloom season for these, or should I have had flowers by now?
Has anyone else in my region had a problem this year? We did have a cool spring and some ghastly heat this summer. Your thoughts? p.s. I planted them with some bone meal and Flower Tone in each hole, and kept up with watering during the heat wave. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by preciousbane 5 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 4, 06 at 6:21
| I have the same problem this year. At the moment I have lots of buds, but I still wonder if they will actually bloom before the first frost. They LOOK really healthy. I figured I OVER fertilized and since this was a new bed I churned a LOT of compost over the last few months. The only dahlia that has bloomed is this lemon dinner plate dahlia that is completely different from the photo/description on the package I purchased! |
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| Msbumble, I'm not in your region but we also have a cool damp Spring well into June and are still having a run of warm or hot days. Of the varieties you listed, Cornel just has its first 3 blooms here, Fire Magics have each had about 3-4 flowers, and Buffie G is showing pink color but won't unfurl its first bud no matter how much I beg. All were planted in very late May, if not June. So I think you're right on schedule, or at least we have similar bloom times on these. I will say that the Fire Magic might have been earlier but both plants were shaded too much by towering neighbor dahlias. Here's Cornel Preciousbane, I use a lot of compost every year just to improve the soil. Unless you have a lot of manure in yours, I don't think it would be too high in nitrogen. Full sun and ample watering seem to be the best ticket to blooming here, and patience doesn't hurt in many cases either. |
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| Thanks for your replies- one of my plants must have heard me complain, because I looked out this morning to see several blooms on the Ruskin Gypsy, and more on the Amber Queen. Poochella, lovely Cornel. It looks pinker than the catalog photo I based my purchase on though, which was maroon. Not that it matters since I've only got foliage anyway. |
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| Thanks, Cornel is indeed a deep rich dark red. Camera settings can be deceiving and confounding especially to me! |
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- Posted by trustmissy 5MidMich (My Page) on Mon, Sep 4, 06 at 21:46
| I'm in Michigan, zone 5. My dahlias are fantastic this year. Even the small annual ones I planted are doing great. The are the size of bushel baskets. Many of my dahlias were planted in a new bed this year, which I enriched with peat moss and manure. I always use bone meal when I plant the tuber. It sure worked well this year. |
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