2023 Orders & Openings Chat

blown_dry · 2023-02-04T23:16:17+00:00

I sent off an email order to DahliaLama. We'll see!

SteveM

I only ordered about 25 tubers this year (I am not an addict like some of you sickos!) and was happy with the quality from all of the vendors and growers I traded with. I particularly like the small family farms that are just starting out and use ingenuity when choosing packing materials.
Of the 25 tubers I ordered, I culled one as virused, had one refuse to eye out, and lost two to rot. The two rotten tubers could have been my fault for eyeing them out in too wet/cold of potting soil. So, that is only about a 10% loss overall. (Of course, the gophers haven't had a shot at them yet).

calico20hill

Dahlia53

Absolutely 100% in agreement with you!

MIDahlias

I do a great job of keeping track of what I order until May. Once May comes around nothing makes it in the computer.

I have two tubers that need to find their names.

One from Coseytown's last chance box. The tuber is labeled HHBKU. I don't see anything on the site that would match.

The second I don't know where it came from. Its labeled MHB.

Anyone great at puzzles and can help me figure this out before November. I will hate for them to end up NOID's.

MissyWeitzel

MIDahlias Hollyhill Black Beauty?

edewitt

MIDahlias The tuber is labeled HHBKU.

Yeah I'd wager it's one of the varieties of black intros from Hollyhill or HH Buttermilk but just maybe a little wonky on the labeling.

MIDahlias The second I don't know where it came from. Its labeled MHB.

Probably Mrs. H Brown.

Dahlia53

MIDahlias maybe the U is a W? In that case it might be Hollyhill Black Widow, which is a gorgeous WL!

I have to laugh because I religiously label and if the name is not on any tubers I get, I mark the name on them immediately - but forgot to label just one, marked 359. I have no idea what is it or which grower sent it, but it sprouted so it's in the ground growing.

MIDahlias

MissyWeitzel I was wondering but I think that would be an easy HHBB instead of 5 letters.

Juliarugula

Dahlia53 did you order from Connell’s or River’s? They both use numerical codes…. (I’m sure lots of other sellers do as well, but…)

edewitt

Juliarugula did you order from Connell’s or River’s? They both use numerical codes…. (I’m sure lots of other sellers do as well, but…)

Lobaugh's does as well.

Teddahlia

Repeated this 4 or 5 times over the years: Phil Mingus used a rubber stamp that had replaceable numbers only. He placed three digits on each tuber. They corresponded to his catalog 001 through about 400 in alphabetical order. A customer called him and asked what variety was number 222 . Phil said what year was it as the list was different each year.

Juliarugula

I don’t understand the advantage of a numerical system over an abbreviation system. I do four letter abbreviations sort of similar to bird ID abbreviations. I can almost always figure out what the tuber is without referencing my list (but good to keep a list just in case). Last year I tried stamping my tubers with a simple alphabet stamp set. I think this year I’m just going to sharpie them though - I think it will be easier, and I have tidy lettering.

MIDahlias

Juliarugula I used to number with the first letter and then two numbers following until I learned about bird abbreviations. I love it. I do vary sometimes, but as you mentioned I can always figure it out.

blown_dry

That's one of the steps to unboxing for me, labeling the unmarked or coded tubers with a garden marker. 🙂

KitCMC

blown_dry agreed - I also appreciate having confirmation of which tuber is the mother when digging.

Teddahlia

I wonder if waterproof tape wrapped around a tuber would work.
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LoriDee

KitCMC There is a grower near me that writes the variety, seller & price on a tree tag that he wraps around the neck of the tuber when planting. Then if it's the wrong variety or other issues he knows where it came from when he digs it up

Bessie

MIDahlias what is bird identifications?

NCDahlia

Bird identifications are the first 2 of each name of a named bird, so for example Snow Goose would be SOGO in "bird code" ; Bald Eagles would be BAEA , American Goldfinch would be AMGO and on down the list.

For Dahlias it can be used the same way. Such as HHPK = Hollyhill Peachy Keen. CVJ = Clearview Jonas, HHGB = Hollyhill GoldenBoy, Camano Buz = CABU , Coseytown Babycakes = CTBC and any other dahlia you can think of. When I am labeling tags for the field I always label them by the short code so every Clearview is CV. It saves writing out the full name. And if you mark the tubers if you wash them also easier than writing out a long name.

Juliarugula

NCDahlia there are some further rules as well. For example, a bird with just a one word name would be abbreviated with the first four letters. So Dunlin would be DUNL. If the name is three words, it’s the first letter of each of the first two words and two letters from the third, so Yellow Bellied Sapsucker would be YBSA. Four words in the name, the first letter of each…

I break the rules in labeling dahlias, because I always start with a 2 letter hybridizer code if there is one, so sometimes it makes sense to include a bonus letter. (Or a number, like HHS16 for Hollyhill Sweet 16).

BarryO

LoriDee
I routinely tie a plastic tag around each tuber and use a Sharpie to write the variety on the tag. When the clump is dug up in the fall, the tag (ink still very legible) eliminates any doubt as to the variety.

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