2025 Seedlings

Bessie · 2025-04-01T16:33:09+00:00

This year, 2025, has been challenging to get healthy Dahlia seedlings! Still trying to figure out the many ways I've gone wrong. I dumped about 30-40 seedlin...

calico20hill

Providing it made good tubers, I plan to multiply this one next year. It is just awesome in a bouquet! Also a number of nice looking other ones in combinations of reds, yellows and oranges that came from the HH Black Beauty seeds. And there is another anemone opening in my vase that has soft orange and gold petals with a rusty orange center. Will try to get a pic when it is opened out.

GalenaB

A few more first year seedlings: I still have about 15% left to bloom, but they all have buds so I think I'll see them before frost. First and second are between 4-6 inches. The last one is just around 2.5 inches and the seed parent is Lakeview Lady on that one.

SteveM

GalenaB Beautiful colors. You're getting some great seedlings!

Teddahlia

There are not enough fully double 2 inch flowers and 2.5 inch is very rare and the small flowers on that plant may be 2 inches to make it into the micro class. And it is very pretty.

GalenaB

Teddahlia Thanks! Hoping I can get a couple more blooms out of it before frost so I can better assess it, but it's getting tagged for next year!

GalenaB

SteveM Thanks Steve! Went overboard this year and did around 4000 seedlings, I've been pulling the rejects out as they bloom which helps clear up space. Not quite sure how many I have tagged for another year, but it's a good amount.

BackyardBouquets_17

I like those all but that last one is my favorite 🤩

GalenaB

A few more from last night. I know the first one has some notched petals, but honestly that trait doesn't bother me too much. It's quite large: 6-7 inches. Once it fully blooms, I'm going to pop it off and count how many petals it has. The last one caught my eye because it's tiny (I have small hands so farmer thumb for scale) - hoping the little bit of green center resolves itself.

Bessie

GalenaB with the few years of experience growing seedlings, one thing I've learned is the flower might change significantly for the better in year two. I think some promising seedlings need to be given a chance at a full year of growing and blooming. I like the coral pink color of the mini waterlily.

Justafewdahlias

GalenaB Beautiful! And I love the use of thumb for scale 😂 I have used clippers for scale before, since in theory I could go back and measure my clippers to the point on the photo.

calico20hill

Teddahlia Interesting point about some people remembering numbers better and some people remembering names better. I'm definitely on the "names" side. But I know that I have a "numbers dyslexia". Once I give them a name they take on a whole personality to go with it...

Teddahlia

Love the small waterlily type bloom. I would like to see them make size classes for waterlilies.

Justafewdahlias

Bessie Some of my “reject seedlings” my MIL rescued and planted at her house last year. This year seeing them blooming at her house they are looking way better! I think it could be that they are in a better location and better soil at her house vs the part sun/sink pot situation they had to endure last year with me.

Bessie

This second year seedling, 24106, has long stems and has bloomed continuously for the past two months. I've shown it here before, and now it is over 5' tall with a multitude of blooms in the first week of October. The very latest blooms are holding their center nicely, have a strong bloom attachment, but are bobblehead. I'm wondering if the 90 degree weather we just experienced or the late season has something to do with that. I'm pleased it sets seed!

blown_dry

Bessie What rich color!

calico20hill

Glad your pretty seedling is holding its center. So many of mine are opening after about 3 days. I am just hoping that it is reduced daylight and cooler temperatures telling them to set seeds or die...

Teddahlia

Some have better centers in cool weather but most when they change in the Fall go to open centers. Over the years, we have saved some with slightly open centers and they have turned out to be good flowers. If you cull them, you will never know and obviously, you may have culled a good one. A second year seedling has to prove itself and no mercy. Stems(weak stems) are a different issue. They improve only a little bit by fertilizer and good gardening practices. I am generally hard on weak stems, but at the "a bit weak" level give them chance.

calico20hill

Teddahlia Oh good. Some of these are so beautiful I really want to give them a chance to do better! I am also wondering if the lack of light this time of year makes them go open centered. Where the garden gets plenty of sunshine in summer, when it hits the lower angles of fall along with cloudy days its kind of "show's over", even when it hasn't frosted. Hindsight tells me I should have put my garden on the upper slope of our 2 acres, but I like not being visible from the road when I am working.

Teddahlia

Every year, when we are digging the first year seedling clumps, we decide to keep "another one" . To be honest they seldom turn out to be much of anything. Here is one and I cannot read the scribbling on the tag in the back ground.

calico20hill

Good point...Maybe I will make it a rule to print rather then use script.

It looks like a day NOT to be working in the garden.

Teddahlia

We did not save this 8 inch in diameter flower.

Bessie

Teddahlia I've always thought the twirly petals were caused from thrip damage. Anyone else think the same? Also one crazy observation, a few years ago in rose blossoms, is that I think the earwigs were eating thrips.

blown_dry

Bessie I don't think I have thrips, but I see curly petals on double varieties that are not successfully fully double. I don't think I've seen any centers tightly covered with rows of curly petals Or entire blooms made of curly petals. It would be interesting to know the mechanism.
I just watched a presentation on 'rewilding' with native plants and they were surprisingly genial about earwigs. Not so much invasive slugs and snails.

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