Dahlia Sports

MissyWeitzel · 2023-04-29T15:25:55+00:00

Is there a compiled list somewhere of dahlia sports and the variety they sported from? I tried searching online and I can't seem to find what I'm looking for...

Bessie

Teddahlia I hope that sport to white(my guess) is captured. It is so, so nice.

Teddahlia

One cannot talk about sports and not include Spartacus. It was bred by the late Mick Senior who told me that Spartacus was a seedling of Edna C. crossed with Zorro. Spartacus sported to a red and white bicolor too but it reverted to solid red the next year. Some of the above sports are actually "sports of sports" . Most of these sports were "bred" by Steve Meggos of Chicago. His purple sport is missing from this collage. Steve has not revealed how he "breeds" sports. Spartacus rarely makes seeds but there are some seedlings with it's genes from traditional breeding.

SteveM

I was never able to grow Spartacus very well. The few years I grew it I did get a R/W Bicolor sport but it reverted back to solid the next year. Harvey Koop also reverted back to solid red the one time I grew it. A very interesting line of sports.

Teddahlia

When Spartacus was first introduced it was a very vigorous fairly tall plant with nice large lowers and the stems were adequate to hold up the flowers. It is really hard to find really good stock of Spartacus these days. In my experience, most of the sports have had a decline in plant vigor. The one that may have the most vigor is Vassio Meggos. JS Jenny is also above average. The purple sport was a poor growing flower that reached only 3 feet tall in my garden. None of the yellow sports have been vigorous and there have been several. Ginger Clack(Ember her daughter may be more correct) was able to get some seeds from Spartacus and I grew the seedling last year. It's name is CDP Ezra .

Bicolor is a fairly common sport in dahlias. It never is a stable sport and reverts back to a solid color the next year. If you know of one that was stable please let me know as I know of about 25 examples where the sport reverted and none where it was stable . Bicolors resulting from seeds are much more stable but not always.

SteveM

Teddahlia it seems the gene(s) that regulate color must be closely located (on the chromosome) to the gene(s) that regulate plant vigor. Sometimes (not always) a sport is less vigorous than the original plant. My first pink sport of Maarn grew on a far less vigorous plant than the strong-growing Maarn. My second sport of Maarn was the same color of pink as the first sport but this sport also had the same great vigor as the original Maarn.

Teddahlia Bicolor is a fairly common sport in dahlias. It never is a stable sport

This has been 100% true for the handful of bicolor sports I have saved. HH Berry Purple had a nice lateral bicolor sport. I saved it and the second year all three plants I saved were perfect bicolors on every first bloom. Unfortunately, within a month all three plants had reverted back to solid purple. I have had a similar experience with the other (4-5) bicolor sports I have tried to save over the years.

LoveLanguageDahlias

While I wait for my tubers to wake up and my soil to warm, I've been thinking about this sweet little sport of Cornel that appeared last October. It was just on one branch and I'd studiously popped off the side buds. For a number of reasons, I knew I couldn't take/maintain late season stem or leaf cuttings; I had to let her go. But, I'd like to be ready if it happens again. One can always Google information on cuttings, but I've heard that Gordie Leroux's article from Dahlias of Today is the gold standard. Does anyone know where I could find a copy?

Has anyone heard of dahlia cuttings overwintering in a Cannabis grow unit? My neighbors are fitting out their barn as a state of the art grow (for personal use, but apparently they need more than the unlicensed # and had to apply for a commercial license - big doings at the small town meeting.) Anyway....they might have room in a corner, and we're helping them build a shed to house the stuff that currently occupies the barn. I'm sure there could be questions/issues about possible pest or virus contamination - but it's a thought.

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