General Dahlia Chat 2024

Krista · 2024-01-05T01:50:48+00:00

When do we grow up and stop ordering more tubers than we can possibly fit into the space we have, for the next season? Is that something I can look forward t...

BackyardBouquets_17

Are there more dahlias out there that have markings similar to BJ Dusty Rose? Where it fades out into white? I kind of like that air brushed look it has instead of the abrupt change of colors most of the dahlias with white have.

Laia

BackyardBouquets_17 I sometimes think of that diffuse color distribution as “color dusting.” I wonder if there is an agreed upon name for that trait? “Arabian Not”, Hemisphere, Sellwood Glory & Temple of Beauty kind of have a bit of that going on, but the contrast color is much stronger, with less white. N-Force and some others do “color dusting” patterns, but with different colors. I really like traits that make the petals have an ombre effect or look like an artist air-brushed or did shading with the colors…petal fade of older petals can be gorgeous that way, too. I thought Le Baron was lovely because of the way the fade to lighter petal tips was graduated.

Come to think of it, Kelgai Ann & a seedling I saw at the WCDS 2023 show have a similar color distribution to BJ’s Dusty Rose.

Kelgai Ann:

Seedling by John & Carmen Sullivan:

Bessie

BackyardBouquets_17 I'm sorry to hear you were ill, that really does interfere with the best plans! I am anxiously waiting for pictures of your seedlings😀.

Teddahlia

The different USA climates are somewhat baffling to me. Here in the PNW, we often have cool weather during the Spring and although there is no frost, it is not warm enough to grow dahlias. Tubers do better than plants during this time. Then it slowly improves and nighttime temps are good for planting. It takes about a month of cool spring weather to get the growing season going.
In the Mid west, the weather seems to switch to planting time overnight. Winter one day, planting time the next. And I am talking mostly about night time temps here. No problem as the night time temps are fine.

Then we must talk about the weather at the end of the season. Our best dahlia growing time is from about September 1st to October 15th. Frost is supposedly expected around Halloween but seldom happens by then and some years it has not frosted for Thanksgiving and we put some dahlia flowers on the table. In the Midwest, again the switch from summer does not seem to include Fall and frost occurs in mid September when we are having our best flowers for another month.

Having not lived in the Mid west, have I got this weather thing right?

Juliarugula

Teddahlia Having not lived in the Mid west, have I got this weather thing right?

Your description of Midwest spring is spot on, but we do definitely have a proper fall. Usually where I am (NW Indiana) we don’t get a first frost until early November and the dahlias are fabulous until then.

My guess is that you’ve heard many of us talk about digging even in September, especially in October. I usually get going well before the first frost with my digging/washing/dividing, because once we get frost there’s always a possibility of a good snow or a hard freeze, which can make everything more difficult. Especially because then I need to switch off my outdoor water. So it’s not that we don’t get fall - it just usually happens before the first frost, not after.

BackyardBouquets_17

Teddahlia

Yup pretty much nailed it. We do have a decent fall here but normally by sept 15 we have frost and you better get digging unless u want to dig in the rain or possibly snow. It’s often cool and things r lagging the beginning of sept that I kno there’s some folks will start digging then but I like to wait till a good killing frost since they keep better in my basement that way.
Not uncommon to have our first snow in October tho it usually don’t hang around yet

calico20hill

Gorgeous "Planting out" weather here, and I should be done by this evening. I only have half of one of the 6 raised beds left to plant., and then the "grow bags" at the borders. I will have to choose very carefully what makes the cut for that space! I still have seedlings I very much want to find room for. The rain showers that have happened over the last few days has been a boon that helped get the "other" flower beds off to a good start.

Teddahlia

In Kalispell, Montana, It was said that you had about two weeks to dig after the first frost as the big freeze would arrive and the ground would be frozen. Our digging season extends into December in most years.

Laia

That got me looking at some of the pictures from the last WCDS show, and boy, who else fell in love with this seedling from Kathy & Charles Crompton?

bloomhjelm

What I like about that seedling: that kind of visible petal structure striation where every petal has symmetrical v shaped marks. And secondly the ombre graduation of color.

Teddahlia

Dahlia judge sees uneven color distribution and that is a show fault. There is a big difference between what people like and what is required for show. Pretty is not listed in the show attributes. I have noticed that many of the "streaky" dahlias look much less streaky a day or so after picking. The color seems to spread out a bit and it looks less streaky. Color is contained in the cells on florets surface. If they burst from just aging, the pigment is spilled out and is spread around.

BackyardBouquets_17

This yr I’m trialing a batch planted out 2 wks earlier than I normally would and then put row cover over. They were popping through the ground when I planted out the regular time ones so it’ll be interesting to see how they compare during the growing season. I’ve also got hoops and plastic up over 2 rows ( Read the growing kindness article called Growing Dahlias in Cold Climates by Julio Freitas from The Flower Hat) I make bouquets during the summer so in our climate anytime u can get blooms a little earlier is a huge plus.

calico20hill

I have my dahlias all planted but the extra ones that will go into last years grow bags. Today I cleaned out another bed that had chrysanthemums in it, and will now become my zinnia bed. I bought a package of seeds from Floret this year so I want to try her "Unicorn Mix". I will let you know if I come out some morning and find a beautiful white unicorn sleeping in my zinnia bed! I will also be growing some of the lime green mix ones. This bed had the dirt really low in it so it needs at least 8 wheelbarrow loads more added. Hubby says 2 loads a day is his limit now. I found one seedling sweet pea from last years English beauties! I saved it and gave it a stick to climb until we can arrange a better support. (Poor little lonely sweet pea! I never got around to purposefully planting the seed I had saved). I do beleive we could fit in one more raised bed...maybe next year after hubby has had both knees replaced. He does build nice garden beds!

KitCMC

A rabbit destroyed the plants in my raised bed, but when I was surveying the damage, I noticed these eggs. Can anyone confirm these are/aren’t lacewing eggs?

Bessie

KitCMC they look so familiar...
Check out this website that seems to confirm they are lacewing eggs.
https://extension.umn.edu/beneficial-insects/lacewing

Juliarugula

KitCMC really cool!!

Krista

KitCMC I’m so sorry to hear about the rabbits. Hoping your tubers resprout, and on the double!

Veryzer

KitCMC That stinks. I feel about bunnies the way Ted feels about goats, only moreso. They're an absolute pestilence in my neighborhood and are willing to chew through the thorniest rose canes with no regard to liquid fence applications. Naturally, dahlia sprouts stand no chance. I finally resigned myself to dealing with chicken wire since I don't have the heart or resolve to go full Carl Spackler on them.

KitCMC

Bessie very cool! Thank you 😊

BackyardBouquets_17

Finally got everything in the ground. I start my seeds in soil blocks and this is definitely not the size I planned to plant them out ( I was planning on a smaller size and less roots to disturb) but things came up that put the last of the planting on hold for a couple wks and you can’t stop a plant from continuing to grow 😀

BackyardBouquets_17

Came across serveral with dark edged leaves. I like that look so it will be interesting to see those what kind of bloom those give.

Teddahlia

Portland Dahlia club meeting last night. Not all the 467 members came to the meeting but I bet there were well over 60 people there and it was on Zoom also.
Drum Roll: What was main topic of the meeting? Fertilizer.
Fertilizer is the most commonly discussed subject and the only thing that comes close is how to divide dahlia clumps although taking dahlia cuttings is gaining in popularity.
I will not bore you experts with the fertilizer recommendations but it was based on the presenter's soil test and 35 years of experience. Hint: it involves the generous use of nitrogen.

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