Dahlia Seedling Pictures - 2023

Bessie

First blooming plant from January 18, 2023 seed sowing.
Alloway Candy is seed parent, unknown pollen parent.

Krista

Bessie I love the Alloway Candy-shaped florets on this one. This is an exciting discussion thread, I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone’s seedlings this year!

KitCMC

Bessie exciting!!

Teddahlia

I expect our first seedlings to bloom in August. Most are still in pots waiting to grow bigger to be planted.

blown_dry

Looking forward to see y'all's seedlings. I know most seedlings aren't 'winners' but I'm rooting for you, and can hope for some interesting mutants as well.

calico20hill

THAT CREAMY WHITE was so beautiful until I saw its open messy center. Wishing you better luck if yu have more of that cross to bloom.

Bessie

Question... Anyone interested in seeing pics of the seedlings that very likely won't "make the cut"?

SteveM

Bessie Anyone interested in seeing pics of the seedlings that very likely won't "make the cut"

Definitely, it is the seedlings on the fence that might benefit from several points of view. We all grow/breed dahlias for different purposes so a seedling might not fit in one category but could fit the requirements in another category. The "Garden dahlia" is probably the most neglected category at this point so seems to have the most room for new introductions. The "Show dahlia" category is very specific and a seedling should have almost "perfect" show form to be considered as a new introduction. "Cut dahlias" is an increasingly popular category with it's own set of requirements.

Teddahlia

When breeding dahlias, someone has to evaluate them. The evaluation process is a skill that cannot be done well without being familiar with hundreds of dahlia varieties. My wife and I have evaluated about 30,0000 seedling since we started breeding in about 1993. The question on the table is whether we would want to see pictures of flowers that "do not make the cut". Perhaps we would not be very enthusiastic participants in this endeavor. ☹ But then again, if the flower is pretty and is almost a good one .....

Teddahlia

I am glad you mention "garden dahlias" 'as most people do not realize that there is such a category. I am not talking about bedding dahlias sold at Home Depot as almost all of us prefer to ignore them. Some dahlia varieties make very nice looking plants in the garden. To be honest, most dahlia varieties are not good looking plants. Cafe au Lait, my most hated dahlia is an excellent example of an ugly dahlia plant. I visited the Swan Island display garden and and it took me about 10 minutes to locate the one scraggly plant grown in there. Certainly, it must look better than that I thought and in their 45 acre dahlia fields where 450,000 dahlia plants are grown, they grow Cafe au Lait for flower sales to florists. It took me over 30 minutes of walking to locate their row of the plants. They were pathetic and they flipped this way and that way and had been "robbed" of every flower and almost none were left for a tourist to see. One could compare the plants to those that had been blown over by a hurricane.
Getting back to good looking garden plants, I know of no list and no official definition either. At the trial gardens there is no special award for the best looking garden flowers in the trial garden. The garden dahlia category needs some work.

Teddahlia

And evaluation of seedlings is a "hot potato" subject as on the surface it is so personalized. You like what you like and maybe you like what Margaret likes but to hell with Margaret if you really like it and she does not like it. "Nobody can tell me what I like!!!".
However, there are many "flaws" in dahlias that can really ruin them and if your favorite seedling has a fatal flaw or several minor flaws, it may a pretty flower but it's future is doubtful.

NCDahlia

That's very true and something I kinda pay attention to now. There are some plants of dahlias that I just hate growing because I dislike how the plant structure looks. Especially in the south where I need maximum airflow between plants. Some of very bushy even without pinching out but too short. Others are tall and lanky but I usually grow tall ones because I am decently tall 6'3". Lots of factors to consider in the appearance of the plant. As well as the shade of green, vs being a dark / purple color.

Open center I dislike and I will never grow them. I grew Pooh when I first started and never again. I do grow maybe 5 lacerated ones but I keep those on the other side of the main area as I do not want the pollen crossing.

Bessie

These four seedlings I don't think are worth keeping. I thought a collage would be a condensed way to show them.

SteveM

Bessie you can sure see the Alloway Candy influence in some of those. I would wait to cull any of those that are "almost" fully double until you see a later bloom. With our short spring days one of those with weak centers could develop a center (more florets) in a 2-3 weeks when buds have formed under longer days There are more than a few varieties that have been bred "up north" that will have open centers until mid-June when grown at my latitude. I wonder if that is the reason there are no (or few) trial gardens in the South?

Teddahlia

The genes for fully closed centers are probably related to the genes for the petal count of the flower. It takes lots of petals to cover the pollen center. Waterlilies sort of walk the line between enough petals and a closed center. The ones that have a smaller pollen center make it a bit easier to cover it up. These seedlings appear to have traits from a waterlily but these flowers have pointed petals like a semi cactus or cactus or a stellar. That cross will probably yield very few nice flowers.

SteveM

One quality most breeders forget to evaluate when culling seedlings is the "scent". Dahlias can have a distinctive scent but this phenotype has not been seriously selected for (as far as I know). One grower told me that he collected blooms of all his open-centered seedlings before he culled them and made an arrangement on his mantlepiece. One day he noticed a wonderful scent had filled the room coming from one of the culled varieties in the bouquet. Unfortunately, he had already dug and tossed the tuber so he wasn't able to save it.
Over the years I have heard a few similar stories but am never sure if they are true or merely a dahlia grower's version of the "fish that got away". In this case I guess it would be "the blue dahlia seedling with the wonderful scent but the tubers rotted in storage" tale.

Bessie

SteveM I have a fragrant Dahlia! I would have likely just thrown the seedling from Triple Wren seed away, but wanted to test vase life and fragrance. I can't quite place the smell... Maybe like a chrysanthemum or nasturtium or sweet alyssum. It's a familiar smell, but not sweet like roses or carnations. I'll let you know if I figure it out.
Wouldn't have photographed it, except I'm guessing someone might be curious what it looks like.

Teddahlia

Several years ago, Wayne Holland released Hy Scent that supposedly had scent. It was brought to the club meeting and I could not smell it. Others said they could smell it. As far as I know, there has never been a dahlia that has had enough scent to really impress most people. I will be breeding for the blue dahlia that has scent or maybe not.

Bessie

A closed center seedling.

SteveM

Bessie It won't be long before you will be looking for a reason to cull a seedling rather than a reason to keep it. 🙂 Evaluating seedlings is the best part of growing dahlias!

Bessie

I really appreciate everyone's comments!

I actually study carefully what is said. I am a novice at evaluating Dahlia seedlings. However, there's a few basics of seedling evaluation I've learned... plant Vigor, stem strength,stem length, flower position, disease resistance, tuber viability/keeping, color consistency, color fading, floriferous/productive plant, flower size consistency over the season, should be a better option than what's currently available, not too late blooming, not too short or too tall, is it novel... I'd really like to get some nice cut flowers, but will settle for any success at this point.

Honnat

Bessie However, there's a few basics of seedling evaluation I've learned... plant Vigor, stem strength,stem length, flower position, disease resistance, tuber viability/keeping, color consistency, color fading, floriferous/productive plant, flower size consistency over the season, should be a better option than what's currently available, not too late blooming, not too short or too tall, is it novel..

In my opinion the most important trait that should be considered before all of these: Does it have a good center? If you are seeing pollen right away and it's only opened up a few rows of petals, all of these other questions are moot.