2025 Orders and Openings chat

Juliarugula · 2024-09-01T12:24:00+00:00

Does anybody have info on Ferncliff Gardens opening? Seems like they often open September 1, but I haven’t heard anything about an opening date yet this yea...

DarcyD

Guys, I've bought nothing!! It's a small miracle. I'm trying to downsize and only get new intros and favs I've lost.

blown_dry

bloomhjelm My tubers from FGL last year were so nice.

That's awesome. I've been missing them. I think I may add them again, with a note to mind the reviews and leave a review if one gives them a try.

bloomhjelm

Happy to see Kale Lane is carrying the Boley dahlias this season. Websites are awfully time consuming to keep up, and Kale Lane is the waterlily nexus for sure.

I don't remember why, but I didn't send in my order to Birch Bay until a couple days after open and guaranteed myself I wouldn't get anything.

bloomhjelm

I bought from Goldenrod this morning. Some of her varieties seem to have double centers, green centers and inconsistent petals -- not that lovers of pretty flowers will care -- so I didn't go for those. But I chose a couple to buy purely for trades. 🙂

Juliarugula

There weren’t that many blooms at the Midwest trial garden that really caught my eye this year. It was a rough year weather-wise which I’m sure had something to do with it. Anyway, there was one in particular I was hoping to order. When BJ’s put up listings for the new Steve Meggos intros, I guessed from the description that the bloom I liked was probably Maria K, and I think I was right (Now that he uploaded photos with his listings). So I’m excited about that.

blown_dry

Juliarugula Oooh! Thank you. I ordered. I meant to just based on the form/size/color, but the pics got me movin'.

Juliarugula

blown_dry If you look at the ADS trial garden photos online, the Midwest garden shows it as Illias Meggos, which BJs lists as a AA size. This was definitely not an AA size bloom. And one of the other gardens (maybe Canby?) shows it listed as Maria K. So I’m not sure. I had ordered both of them, anyway, so I’m not too concerned. On the ADS site, all the stake numbers for the Indiana garden are off from what I have in my photos, too, so I suspect there was a documenting error in the Midwest photos and it really is Maria K.

The other standout (for me at least) at the Midwest garden was 20th Ave Tranquility, which was stunning all the way from the parking lot. Loads of perfect glowing blooms.

blown_dry

Juliarugula it really is Maria K.

Yes, if BJ's images are correct, this looks like Maria K. I also ordered both.

Teddahlia

20th Ave Tranquility was in the Canby Swan Island Portland ADS PNDC that I call the Portland Trial garden. It passed. Maria K. passed too. I do not remember either one although I may have judged either or both of them.

NCDahlia

Pics from canby of both looks like they are pink blooms. https://www.dahlia.org/docsinfo/trial-garden-overview/trial-garden-2024-photo-album/nggallery/album/canby-2024

So a dumb question if they do not pass, I assume people don't release them?

I still haven't placed any orders for 2025 but prob will try to get a few new ones.

Teddahlia

"....if they do not pass, I assume people don't release them?" It is unpredictable. (1) It probably was entered in more than one trial garden and probably did pass in at least one(2)Trial gardens evaluate only show potential and some flowers entered are just pretty flowers but not well formed. (3) For sales potential, "pretty" trumps "show potential" and trumps sometimes "poor form" too.

"Pretty" is a very powerful trait concerning dahlia sales and the "official" ADS position is that "pretty" is s not an evaluation criterion for show dahlias. We all know better and most of the time the really pretty flowers seem to just at least barely pass despite their questionable form. The judges propose the reason they pass poorly formed flowers that are pretty is that they are predicting whether the flower will get blue ribbons in the shows. The same happens in shows and "pretty" flowers of poor form often win a ribbon especially when there are few entries in that class.
So, will they be sold if they do not pass? Other factors are who entered the flower. A beginner breeder may just give up. A big time seller will declare it to be "just a cut" flower or some such thing and sell it and if it sells well , sell it the next year too. It has been proposed many times that there should be trial garden(s) for cut flowers. Sounds easy, peasy but it would be a much more involved operation than a show trial garden. Years ago, I read about some European cut flower trials and they were so complicated and time intensive and land intensive as to be unbelievable. I have more thoughts but my typing fingers are tired.

bloomhjelm

There was one photo from the Piper Creek trial garden that caught my eye. The dahlia appears to have a color like tea-stained paper. It is called BHG Sunkissed. I am not sure whose prefix this is, if anyone knows.

blown_dry

bloomhjelm I am not sure whose prefix this is

Blossom Hill Gardens. They are in Canada and they only ship to Can.

LoriDee

bloomhjelm oooooh this one is gorgeous!

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