Posting a picture of dahlia seedling.

blown_dry

From a Ted post on Cubits: Blaze of "wolf" petals on an orange dahlia. Those white petals are where something stopped the formation of the orange pigment and all you can see now is the white. If the whole plant sported to white it could be saved. I was surprised to see white as when Electra has a wolf petal it is lavender.
https://cubits.org/Dahlias/thread/view_post/1298403/

Teddahlia

Dahlias have two color pigments and occasionally one petal will lose the genetics to form both colors and only one will be displayed. Almost always it is a lighter color( the darker color pigment is anthocyanin and it is often the one that is lost and you see the lighter pigment that is not an anthocyanin)

Krista

Teddahlia I really like the term "wolf petal," how curious! I wonder, can a wolf petal retain partial genetics and show a blend of the two pigments, light and dark?

janell

Teddahlia This is the only bloom we saw and yes it appears to have what is known as a wolf petal that is variegated

I spotted another variegated wolf petal today on instagram. This one is in a cloud of “sfumato”. @Juliarugula was that your descriptor for BQ York?

I cannot underscore enough how happy the existence of this forum makes me. That you Amanda and @mr_blown_dry!

Juliarugula

janell yes! “Sfumato” was an art history class term used to describe a sort of hazy softness - Da Vinci’s paintings are the classic example. It’s one of those words that stuck for me because it sort of sounds like what it means…

I saw that photo too, with that one stripe of a wolf petal.

Krista

Juliarugula Thank you for this - I had no idea. "Sfumato" is a word I always have to say out loud to myself because I stumble over the consonants that feel like they shouldn't be next to each other. I said it twenty times out loud while planting out my twenty "Sfumato" ranunculus and it didn't get easier. 😅

Teddahlia

We like this one from 2022. I am sorting and counting the pot tubers and we will be taking cuttings. Monumental task ahead as there are way too many and shipping orders gets in the way.

Teddahlia

If I were to show Margaret this picture of our 2021 seedling that is being evaluated for third year, Margaret would claim she has never seen it before. If it was a waterlily, she would recognize it and usually would be able to identify the seed parents too. Miniature flowers are not her thing.

Teddahlia

My favorite picture of a promising seedling that is now going to be three years old. It has excellent form in a world where form is a minor trait in a nice bouquet.

Bessie

Teddahlia I think we need a label called "tease" 😉, it is a lovely Dahlia! I wish the white Hollyhill Wedding Day from 2022 new releases was more available for purchase.

Krista

Teddahlia This one is very pretty. It's just too fitting that the inner rows of petals look like they're willing themselves into the very complicated origami "petal" fold.

calico20hill

I like it!

Teddahlia

Bessie Hollyhill Wedding Day is our version of a tree dahlia and a "log" from it is on my desk.