I have thoroughly enjoyed both of your posts! Your dahlias and cannas are spectacular. All look very healthy and prolific. Do you dig up and store yours over the winter? I have some that I have kept going for years on end that way (hence why I don't recall the names any longer). I am thinking that the friend's ex- husband is providing great fertilizer because that crypt is overflowing with lushness....lol.
Thanks for both of these very enjoyable and beautiful postings.

Celeste

Celeste, digging the cannas and dahlias is a lot of work. For several years, a friend of mine did not dig her dahlias and they came up faithfully, so last year, I thought I would do the same. Then come the end of December it became apparent that the winter was not normal. Early in January, on a fairly mild day, I dug the dahlias. Good thing, because the rest of the winter was horrendous. Names are not all that important, but I don't want to buy the same cultivar twice, so I try to keep track of the names.

Just Beautiful.The dahlias must really like it there.I use to raise a few many years ago,and I did not dig mine up either.They came back year after year for a long time, then started disappearing,and when I no longer had any left,i never did plant any more, but, yours is so beautiful. I especially like the first one. its gorgeous. and Thank you for posting these beauties.I am surely injoying them.

jean

I MUST plant more dahlias next year. I only have a very few, & at this time of the year they are beautiful when not much else is. I have left mine in the ground, fortunately I dug them last year. When I left them in ground overwinter though, it seemed like they didn't really get going as fast as the when I dug them. Your photos really make me want more, even though I hate digging them each year.

Very pretty! I especially like the first dahlia. My mom has grown dahlias for the past several years, but I never have. This is the first year I've tried them, as a neighbor gave me a chunk in the early summer (she was late getting hers planted)... and they haven't bloomed for me. One piece has a couple of buds on it, maybe I'll have a chance to see a bloom or two. Hopefully I take care of them properly and see blooms next year. Your dahlia pictures certainly make me want to try hard!

I agree-need to add some dahlias to the garden. They are so beautiful in fall and could really fill a void when I look over the gardens this time of year. I love all the Cannas too. I have a quite a few around the pool - noticed that you have done the same. And they are so easy to weather over for the winter!

Referencing the Dahlia show I saw years ago, any of yours could have been in it. Look at those colors! Some of theirs were as big as dinner plates. The Dahlia show was right next to the rose show, which is what I had originally come to see not knowing of the double billing, and aside from roses I've never had any flower impress me as much as those Dahlias. Such a shame that they lack any fragrance. I'm so glad you posted yours. They are truly beautiful.........Maryl

I definitely can't leave them in the ground in my zone. I tried it once on a few that I didn't particularly care if I lost....and they were lost even with mulching. So I have to dig all mine and store them in my cellar, which is why I don't grow as many as I used to. So much extra work! As I said before, yours are really gorgeous.

Celeste

These are wonderful but so were the other ones you showed. Question I have is do the dahlias need to be staked? I didn't want to end up with the problem I have with one of the big clumps of peonies which flop when it rains.
Enjoying the show.

Julia

Julia, I use tomato cages. Most do indeed have to be staked.

I love the dahlias! Do you have any shots of them in their bed(s) and in the landscape? I've never grown them, and I could definitely do with tips on how and where to site them.

And....recommended sources? I especially like the purples, Sea Electra, AC Lavender, Thomas Edison and etc.

And, finally....Hamilton Lillian is gorgeous! When you say it's too short do you mean it grows shorter than its registered height, or shorter than you've decided you prefer?

And finally, for real....any more pics of dahlias to share? :)

Hamilton Lillian was a bit shorter than registered, but only the first year I grew it. There are so many good sources for dahlias. Check the dahlias forum. I've gotten some from Endless Summer, some from Alpha, some from the West Coast (several good growers there). I start them in containers in late April here. Dahlias like sun, but sometimes August is too hot here. That is why the Northwest and Northeast are probably better climates. They need to be well watered, and many, if not most of the larger ones, need to be supported. One gets bloom from late July through September here (usually we have a frost by mid-October).

mantis: Oh darn about the staking/cages. I was hoping to avoid that. So you must dig these up every year like the cannas?

I don't know how you can grow these in the hospital bed without someone deciding they need to make a bouquet for themselves.

Julia

Julia, the cannas do not make a good bouquet, but occasionally someone will yank a bloom off (it's done so crudely, like a sudden act of lust). Dahlias are not in hospital bed. People regularly steal iris and peonies. One person commented, "I wonder what these people are thinking when they steal flowers." Well, something along this line, "I was very generous in that I didn't take every flower; I left some for someone else."

In a regular winter here, the dahlias will usually come back if left in the ground, but I am no longer gambling in terms of regular winters. Yes, it is a lot of work. But the tubers do come up quite easily. One also has to watch them during storage. Definitely more work than daylilies, but a long blooming period. Your climate is probably ideal.

This post was edited by mantis__oh on Mon, Sep 29, 14 at 14:38

Thanks for the info. Just from your own images, I have a nice-sized list! And that's without checking out any of the sources you've suggested (Uh oh....)

The dahlias are very beautiful. My grandmother grew them here, and these remind me of her gorgeous garden. Just lovely, Mantis. thank you for sharing.
kay