ADS Classification: Form

Krista

I’ve been looking at forms and recently searched the ADS OCG for MC FD and only three cultivars populated; Colorado Micro, Irish Gnome, Robert Walker. I’m hoping to grow Irish Gnome this year, but wasn’t able to find much about the other two. How would one show a bloom in this category when there are only three varieties in existence? What happens if there aren’t any other entries to compete against?

Photo from ADS OCG of Robert Walker:

MissyWeitzel

Krista if you show in that category and it is the single entry and the judges deem your bloom(s) fit to move forward you will automatically get 1st place and then your bloom will compete against the 1st place blooms in other micro entries and should it get 1st place there, you'll get it on the head table for best micro dahlia overall. At our local West Michigan Dahlia Show there usually aren't very many micro entries. I think we had 4 or 5 total last season. I have a couple of the Kelsey micro collarettes I'm growing this season just to try to enter at our show.

Other types of dahlias that aren't entered a whole lot at our local and regional shows are orchettes, orchid, peony flowering and anemones. That Could be very different in your area. It's not a bad idea to pay attention to what people are showing and not showing in your area should you want to set yourself up for an easier chance at getting on the head table. I have placed with quite a few orchettes and anemones.

Krista

MissyWeitzel Oh wow, very cool! It makes me wonder if micro forms are harder to breed for. I see that there are a number of micro categories listed in the ADS Classification and Handbook but could a micro sized bloom of any form be entered and compete?

MissyWeitzel

Krista yes, all micro forms can be entered. There just aren't a ton of varieties but some hybridizers have been working on that so I'm sure we'll see many more introductions in the near future.

Teddahlia

" It makes me wonder if micro forms are harder to breed for." You said it. Dahlias want to be BB sized. It gets harder and harder ro breed them as they get bigger. By the time you get to giant dahlias you have to be a dahlia breeding wizard to get a good one(or any at all). The same goes for small and as you get smaller it gets harder and harder to breed them. Micros are small like like poms and sometimes even smaller. Bill McLaren was breeding micros when he died. Steve Boley has been doing some nice ones. The 2 inch size for them should have started out at 2.5 inches with drop to 2 inches after a few years. Our HH Lilliput is slightly too big to be a micro. What do I cross it with to get a smaller one? It does make very nice seedlings but always bigger. It takes many years to populate a new size/form and micros have only been around for a few years.

SteveM

Teddahlia Bill McLaren was breeding micros

You sent him a nice small variety to add to his breeding program, I think it was a FD? He used the prefix "U2" (Under 2) for his micro introductions. His best micro intro was probably U2 Ania.

Teddahlia

I am pretty sure I sent him Lilliput that was just a seedling then.

MIDahlias

My rabbit hole for today. I wanted to look to see if I could find any of the national show results from last year. Instead, I started looking at the massive list of 312 Hapet cultivars listed on the National Directory.

I'm having trouble understanding the abbreviations. I don't see an abbreviation table, but when looking at the definition of forms I noticed the National Dahlia Society forms vary from the American Dahlia Society Forms.

https://www.dahlia-nds.co.uk/about-dahlias/classification/

They don't have Informal Decorative or Orchettes listed.
Orchids are "Star"
Laciniated are "Fimbriated"
Semi and Incurved Cactus are "Semi Cactus"

Does anyone know or want to guess what the abbreviations mean?

Bessie

MIDahlias this form has the ADS Dahlia Classification and Number Guide https://dahlia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/4digit_conversion.pdf ( general security warning, only click on PDF links if you know and trust the source!!)

I think the Australian system might be ( my guess)
SIZE:
G = Grand(e)
L = Large
M = Medium
S = Small
Min = Miniature

SHAPE:
D = Decorative
Fim = Fimbriated
WL = Waterlily
pom = pom
SC = semi cactus
ST = Stellar

MIDahlias

Bessie
Thanks, I understand now. The size is part of the form abbreviation.
GD=Grande Decorative

bloomhjelm

MIDahlias In France it's a "dahlia royale with cheese."