Caroline,

Its pretty hard to provide a name based on a photo of the flower. Suffice it to say there are lots of red Dahlias...;-]

So, how tall does the plant get? What diameter is the bloom? Do you know anything about where it came from (did you get it, or was it in the ground when you bought the house?)

I'm also curious about your statement that it "was
finished in late August so I cut them down."

Dahlias don't "finish" until they are killed by frost (in your area.) Once it starts producing buds (typically in, say June? in your area) it should keep producing them till November. You've got to dead head, but aside from that, unless you've got some whacky soil or their in total shade...

So my question is, what does "finished" mean to you?

Cheers,
Russ

Well, I bought the dahlias, prob at Lowes a few years
ago, They are in good soil, no fertilizer, east side
of my house, full sun. The summer was so hot
they started dieing early, All bottome leaves
died. They usually bloomed thru August.So I trimmed
them back to within a foot of the ground.After rains
and cooler weather they grew back to about 4/5 ft.
and rebloomed. I dug them the first year or two then
started leaving them in the ground, no mulch.I am thinking
about digging and dividing them this fall. I know they
never did bloom after last of Aug. because our county
fair is first of Sept. and I never did have any to enter.
No bugs or any thing bottered them. Happy gardening.
Caroline

Well, you've got me stumped. Only thing I can think of is that they're not Dahlias. I've never heard of any that stopped blooming in August in your zone.

Also, you say you trimmed them back to within a foot of the ground. Did you notice hollow main stems when you did this? Stems on my 4+ footers are typically 1.5" in diameter or larger, and always hollow. Just another reason to think they aren't Dahlias.

Cheers,
Russ

They have hollow stems, and are 2 inches in diameter &
blooms are 7in. wide. The new growth comes from the ground.

Thanks for your trouble, I appreciate it, Happy gardening.
caroline

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