Hybridizing Dahlias

Bessie · 2023-09-14T03:43:02+00:00

Krista to discover if seeds are growing in the seed pod, after there are no remaining anthers on the pod, gently squeeze the pods between your thumb and fing...

KitCMC

Cosey Do you think a standard description of the more common patterns/markings would be helpful to cut flower farmers and folks who are growing with specific palettes or aesthetic outcomes as goals?

Cosey

KitCMC Do you think a standard description of the more common patterns/markings would be helpful to cut flower farmers and folks who are growing with specific palettes or aesthetic outcomes as goals?

100% agree. This would be a good topic to discuss in a workshop. There is no organization that gathers and builds relationships between dahlia hybridizers in general. ADS facilitates society meetings and naturally those who hybridize regionally meet and develop personal relationships, but that is absent for those who aren't members or choose to focus on a program outside of the ADS market. The ADS judging manual is the first place I look when trying to find a term to describe traits and characteristics. If I don't find what I am looking for I search other floriculture society websites (orchid, roses, hostas, and chrysanthemum groups are active.) I also bought a Plant Terminology resource that gives the accurate name and description of plant features. A botanist would use this to classify a plant. However, there are still gaps and I find myself making up terms to describe tuber shapes or color compositions.

There will be benefits to using the same vocabulary. I'll have to think on this.

Teddahlia

I get the impression that most people do not describe flowers using words(at least not accurate words) and if you had a nice photo album showing the colors with examples of real flowers they may catch on quicker. The ADS color charts are a joke to me as most of the chips do not have corresponding flowers.
Seedling that cups a bit too much. I think we need to post more pictures of flawed seedlings. Actually, I sort of like this one.

SteveM

Teddahlia Seedling that cups a bit too much

Maybe too much for show but would make a stunning cut variety. It borders on a new form (especially if it stays cupped in daylight) and I can imagine the potential with various contrasting color combinations. Maybe ADS needs to expand the WLs to have separate classes for IC WL and WL over 6".

Teddahlia

Will Margaret allow me to offer the creamy yellow one for sale? Pictured with Lilibet.

calico20hill

I do hope Margaret will allow that! I have missed acquiring Lillibet also and would love to get one.

Teddahlia

The Boleys are promoting their seedling that stays cupped during the day and I believe he wants it to be a novelty flower. We have one that stayed cupped the first year and second year but has varied all over the map in subsequent years. It is a "you can't kill it " dahlia and makes lots of easy keeping tubers and grows like an oak tree and just about as tall. I would sell it but do not know what picture would represent the actual flower as it has bloomed in several forms .
Seedling 20-107 taken in 2021

Cosey

Teddahlia On the east coast, many of the waterlilies will vary in form based on the temperature within the growing season. I don't normally see the beautiful cupping petal until September and then it's only in the evening. By end of Sept and into Oct the form generally stays the classic WL shape.

If you think the seedling form is influenced by the weather, I would simply state that in the sales listing as "insider information" as an effort to manage customer expectations.

That's just a suggestion. At the end of the day, you have to want it on the market with your brand attached.

Bessie

Teddahlia I think you would have a unicorn hit! Dahlias change color, height, size, depending on the environment, so just adding a form factor change is not a big deal. Like @Cosey mentioned, just acknowledge that it may change form. I appreciate websites thst show multiple images and descriptive verbiage of the growth habit and the attractive or detractor features for the given dahlia.

AndreaB

Teddahlia That COLOR 💜 is gorgeous.

SteveM

Teddahlia I would sell it but do not know what picture would represent the actual flower as it has bloomed in several forms .

For those seedlings that would make great cut flowers but not suitable for show you could do as many breeders and give the cut varieties a different prefix than the cut varieties. Maybe use "Hollyhill" for the show flowers but designate the cut varieties with the prefix "Holyhell".🙂

Cosey

SteveM Maybe use "Hollyhill" for the show flowers but designate the cut varieties with the prefix "Holyhell".

I'm dead. ☠️ Best post of the season.

Teddahlia

Holyhell Steve will be a very interesting flower.

DarcyD

Someone posted this page of hybrider names today and I thought it was interesting. Needs some updating, but a good resource for those of us who enjoy the history of hybridization.

http://www.dahliaworld.co.uk/dprefixp.htm

AndreaB

DarcyD This is great. Thanks, Darcy.

Krista

DarcyD I use this resource like crazy! Navigating back to the home page you can access the link for “ World directory of dahlias updated (A to M)(N to Z)).” I use it to find intro years, hybridizers by variety, and for help differentiating when there are multiples of the same name (Ex. “Lulu”). It’s great, I’m so glad to see you surfacing it here.

blown_dry

I use this too. It's a great resource. On the down side, sometimes it uses DahliaAddict as a reference so I may end up with only the info I started with. 🙂

bloomhjelm

I found Google Books to be a fun resource for finding old dahlia cultivation books and resources. Also eBay.

One fun thing I learned while looking up alternate pollination tools besides paint brushes was that bees are so adept at spreading pollen not only because of the fine hairs on their legs and body. They also create a slight positive charge through the flapping of their wings as they approach the disc. Pollen centers have a slight negative charge which helps attract the pollen to the bee. The negative charge is neutralized when the bee visits, which is also how bees may know that a flower has recently been visited.

Unfortunately this squashes my plan to use a dried bee specimen glued to a stick for hand pollination since I cannot flap its tiny wings. 😃

However do not believe I won't try rubbing my paintbrush on a balloon.

Bessie

bloomhjelm the bee pollination info sound fascinating. If you have the links, please post them here or private message me.

Teddahlia

Margaret does the hand pollinating. She uses the pollen flower. I read where in China they used chicken feathers. Mike Iler used brushes but quit hand pollinating after a year or two due to time commitment. Ken Greenway used a whole bunch of brushes he carried in a fly fishing vest.

bloomhjelm

Bessie I can't find the original content I was reading but found another article which references the same studies. https://www.beeculture.com/the-electrical-world-of-the-honey-bee/

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