Bessie Teddahlia , in an order you mistakenly sent the "wrong" tuber by accident in 2022. You said you would likely not be releasing it, and gave me permission to use the name Hollyhill Cream, and said I could give it away with proper credits to you. Do these pictures look familiar? I left out pictures of it going open center, at times.
Teddahlia Hollyhill Creamy, Seedling 17-53, almost released. One year it looks very good and not so much the next year. We have been using it for breeding and when crossed with a waterlily it makes nice seedlings. We introduced one of it's seedlings last year and now am using that one for breeding with the first batch of seedlings planted in the seedling patch. Seedling of HH Creamy that we are still growing but has an uncertain future. I have added Creamy to our list of varieties.
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.
Bessie Bessie this "fragrant" seedling is sitting in the throw out pile. If anyone wants some genetic material, let me know. I decided the fragrance was like yellow trumpet daffodils. Not a smell I like.
LoriDee Bessie I've grown Honka, a yellow orchid & it has a wonderful fragrance. It reminds me of a grandmas perfume 😂🌼
calico20hill Is the fragrance coming from the flower or from the foliage? I have noticed an almost dill-like scent to the foliage and the old Karma Choc dahlia to me has a faint smell of bitter chocolate. That is as close as I have come to identifying a scent.
Bessie calico20hill the scent is definitely coming from the flower. The smell reminds me of a florist walk-in cooler. My latest thought is it smells similar to the trumpet yellow daffodil varieties I grow. However, it is not like some of the super fragrant narcissus. I don't think I will keep it for the fragrance.
Cosey You all are going to make me sniff all my open seedlings this year. Truthfully I don't smell my dahlias because ... no scent. But now I am curious. The only way scent will start to accumulate in dahlias is by seeking out the unique specimens that have some scent, no matter what the plant or bloom looks like. I hope a few of you that might have found something get together and trade plants and start some generational seedling trials.
Teddahlia Several years, ago I was sure one of the seedlings had a faint scent and the next year it did not. The ones I have smelled over the years had a very weak scent that was hardly worth the effort(Hy Scent). I hope when someone actually increases the scent, it is a nice scent. I quickly got tired of smelling the flowers by the way, I have other things to do especially when there was nothing to smell.
Bessie 23015, Alloway Candy seed parent 23058, Hollyhill Donnatella seed parent 23061, Hollyhill Creamy seed parent Updated picture for 23029, Alloway Candy seed parent
Bessie These two seedlings have very delicate coloring. 23038 Alloway Candy sp 23042 is probably the most beautiful coloring of all my seedlings that have bloomed for 2023, thus far. Strong tall plant.
SteveM Bessie Great job, you have quite a collection of keepers for next year! How many do you think you will end up keeping over for a second year?
Teddahlia Nice seedlings. Have not seen many Donnatella seedlings and the color is similar. Creamy seedlings look nice. It has had some really nice seedlings. White is a winner.
Teddahlia Your seedlings look good together in the vase. Our first year seedlings are not yet blooming.
calico20hill Yum. pretty! And here is my Berries Au Lait...this is the one Steve tried out for California but found it grew too tall under shade cloth. I think he touched it with magic fingers while he had it...The first to bloom ing my Berries Au Lait Row.
Bessie calico20hill how tall does it grow in your garden, and how tall is it in Steve's? That's good info for me to have.
calico20hill So far it is 40" in my garden but I beleive it will grow a lot more. Not sure but it may have been around 60" for me and thati s without shade cloth.
SteveM calico20hill Noni. It wasn't so much the height when grown under the shade cloth as it was the long, skinny stems produced on the 2nd flush. The stems were too long/thin when grown here under 30-40% shade cloth. The flower and plant growth was excellent and I hope to try it in full sun some year when I figure out how to foil the gophers. The stock was excellent and I didn't see any variation in the 19 plants I grew last year, all from cuttings taken from the original tuber you sent. The color should make it desirable to florists.
Bessie SteveM I'm still unsure. As I see Peaches N Cream and Blizzard come into bloom, I get more reference for what constitutes "good" in a Dahlia. For sure I'll save seven or eight at this point for growing next year. Below is the very first seedling that came into bloom, and indeed it did turn into a completely closed center bloom. It is very floriferous, but could use more substance. I'm looking forward to crossing Blizzard with 23060 to get a Dahlia with more petal substance.
