MissyWeitzel My first Hollyhill Big Pink opened and I love it! I took a picture in full sun to try to capture how shimmery it is. Hopefully it looks good Friday morning so I can take it to the midwest conference show. š This is my first year growing any micro collarettes and I have 3: Kelsey Bramble, Kelsey Tinker and Lake Hills Phred. I just have to say what an absolute standout Kelsey Tinker is in terms of producing a ton of flowers and the plant and stems are really nice too and blooms are consistent. If you're looking to add a MCO to your garden, I definitely recommend it!
AndreaB MissyWeitzel I love Big Pink! Looks like itāll be perfect for Friday. How will you protect the bloom between now and then? I just came in from putting bags on my Big Pink buds š Never got to see it last year due to our early frost.
MissyWeitzel AndreaB at this point in the season I'm done putting bags on stuff, plus I don't have any large enough for AAs. I found a few thrips today after it just rained and was still overcast so I mixed up some peppermint castile soap in water in my backpack sprayer and sprayed down all the plants making sure to get the flowers and went and looked at the blooms I saw them on and the thrips were dead so I was satisfied with that. I also just put out more blue sticky traps today. Japanese beetles haven't been an issue for me this season, as we've been having our property treated in fall and spring 2 years now and it's working! (Unfortunately I can't remember what products they uses but I'll make sure to save the sheet when they come this fall). I do get some tarnished plant bugs and it's on my really big to do list to talk to MSU extension about them! š
Teddahlia Most dahlia books are boring as they take no time to use examples from their own experience or the experience of others. People want to read that you evaluated the seedlings and passed over the best one and thank goodness a good friend pointed it out to you. They will remember that story and will forget that "you should carefully evaluate the seedlings" and " should refer to the definitions in the classification book" .
Juliarugula Teddahlia I like earwigs as they are predators. Wow! I didnāt know this! What do they eat? I always got the impression that the common perception of earwigs as a major dahlia pest was largely due to the āickā factor. We have a lot of them (I donāt spray for insects either) and only occasionally see damage that appears to be due to them. Itās especially rare after the plants are tall and the blooms are nice and high off the ground. MissyWeitzel I do get some tarnished plant bugs and it's on my really big to do list to talk to MSU extension about them! Ugh. Let me know if you get any useful info about them. They are definitely my most annoying garden pest. The only thing Iāve found in cutting down my population is to consistently bag blooms - they seem like they donāt stick around as much if they canāt get to the buffet as easily.
Teddahlia We have never sprayed the dahlias for insects since with started growing them in about 1991. We are lucky that there is little agriculture near us to spread bad insects to our garden. Predator insects do the insect control here. Kevin Larkin checked our gardens for predators and determined that we had lots of them and most were very small. I like earwigs as they are predators.
calico20hill With my flock of ducks to eat the bugs on the ground I don't have any bug problems serious enough to worry about. And since I am neither selling flowers or showing them I don't really care. Lots of Dragonflies, butterflies, and birds visit my patch. I see about one grass hopper a year eating on a dahlia. There may be an occassional bug passing through but my focus is on what seedlings make good cut flowers and it is only the tuber that gets passed along.
edewitt The first of two blooms of AC Marlene before the plant snapped off at the base. Mak's Volcano does make some impressive blooms. Snoho Storm has only bloomed once so far but it's still great. This is supposed to be AC Big Mary but I'm suspecting it isn't. It's very close to the same color of HH Electra. River's Watermelon has produced a HUGE plant. Gitt's Perfection is a real gem. Alpen Diamond is back after a 12 year hiatus. Hillcrest Kismet continues to make lovely flowers.
Juliarugula Well, maybe Brooksie is kind of fun after all. Itās sort of a shallow bloom, but maybe subsequent ones will be deeper.
NCDahlia Juliarugula interesting one looks like "bad hair day" if it was a dahlia lol, very fun. I will try it next year
Krista Emilyp & Juliarugula your photos of HH Lilibet! Iām kicking myself for passing this one up last spring. Juliarugula HH Pink Tigress is at the very very top of my list for next year, yours is just gorgeous! AndreaB HH Moonsong! Swoon! edewitt Wow Kenora Sunset, Iām so happy to see this one - how sunny and delightful. How large is the bloom? Hereās the first bloom of AC Tweedly Dee to stay on topic.
Teddahlia Margaret named Lilibet after Queen Elizabeth's nickname, Lilibet. White waterlily in the seedling patch.
Juliarugula Hollyhill Pink Tigress! Iāve been looking forward to this one!! Also Hollyhill Lilibet was looking quite lovely this evening.
edewitt AndreaB I hope mine turn out at least as half as nice as that one. Last year Hollyhill Court Jester ended up being a pretty puny weak-stemmed plant but this year's a huge improvement. This red ring around the outside is just wild. I moved Clearview Jonas to the front yard to see how the blooms turnout with a bit more sun. A little lighter in color. Mak's Volcano is a consistent performer for me. N-Force was one I definitely had to buy a replacement tuber for this year. Kenora Sunset is as nice as it looked back when I grew it in 2013. Hollyhill Ambiance is such a cool shade of pink. Alpen Diamond returns after a 12-year absence.
AndreaB edewitt I think your Hollyhill Court Jester is confused and thinks heās a peony! Itās gorgeous.
Juliarugula Krista your photos of HH Lilibet! Iām kicking myself for passing this one up last spring. Add it to a trade list! Your Tweedly Dee is super fun! I havenāt gotten any half and half blooms. Dee and Dum have been consistent favorites of my new varieties this year! I hope I get some good tubers!
