2025 - Dahlia Blooms

SteveM · 2025-05-09T21:01:41+00:00

First bloom from a vendor tuber this year - just in time for Mother's Day. A not-quite-fully-open Hollyhill Amethyst grown in a one-gallon nursery containe...

SteveM

@calico20hill "#p17573 I, too, have seen the formula change over the years, and not for the non-fading best. I used to use Sharpies and they would never fade. After a formula change they faded fast and even the Sharpie Extreme markers faded fast. For a while I had good luck with Marks-A-Lot fine point markers but they became difficult to find. I might try another batch to see how they do for fading. It seems like a non-fading garden marker should be easy to find.

Teddahlia

Fading on plant tags is recurring subject and Phil Mingus who worked at the aluminum plant bought (I doubt he bought them) pieces of aluminum 1/8 of an inch thick and about 8 inches long and an inch wide. He used an engraving machine and etched the name of the flower onto the metal and drilled a hole in the slab marker and hung it above the plant using heavy fishing line. They clanked like wind chimes on a windy day. Teresa Bergman of Cowlitz River Dahlias "inherited" some of them after he died.
I still say write the name again on the tag below the soil level and it does not fade very much there. More writing but worth it.

BackyardBouquets_17

My garden markers this year have faded as well. The one thing I’ve found to consistently work for me is black paint markers. Now I live in Wisconsin so we don’t get as hot nor most likely as bright searing sun as some of you might.

Dahlia53

[unknown] what does clock faced mean? Thanks. I think it's pretty. Lovely color and pretty form.

Teddahlia

"What does clock faced mean?" Very old dahlia term meaning the flower on the stem either faces downwards(terrible) or "straight up and down" like a clock on the wall. They are supposed to be at a 45 degree angle(looking at you) and another fault is "top facing" although some types "allow" top facing(they allow it somewhat in giant dahlias). People insert the stems into the container at an angle to offset top facing and sometimes they get away with it in the shows. Note: in almost all displays of dahlias in shows, the judges seem to favor flowers that look at them. Three in a show vase slightly arranged to look at you is a secret weapon and judges do not even know why they like that entry. The very best exhibitors use this method.

Dahlia53

thank you for that fascinating explanation, Ted! I love the top facing angled stem tip too - and how to have a better chance to win at shows. 🙂

I gave up on markers.. I use a kid's wide #2 pencil (nice and dark) to mark my dahlia plastic markers - thick ones with a hole at the end so you can tie them onto things. The pencil stays on good and you can use rain or shine. I sharpen it with those two-hole sharpeners that can handle wide pencils. When I need the plastic plant marker for something else, I scrub off the pencil with a scrubbie sponge, or lightly sand . I can no longer find my favorite plant labels, which is a shame. Nothing else is as good. After years of use they are finally starting to break and get brittle. Wish I had ordered a thousand now.

Teddahlia

"Wish I had ordered a thousand now." We go through 3,000- or so plant tags per year. I write on the back side of used tags for many of them but for most things use new tags.

MissyWeitzel

Remember how I said I wasn't super impressed with Lyn's Lexi? I take it all back. When I cut a whole bucket of gorgeous dahlias, I can't stop staring at it! Part of the draw is just how many dahlias it is producing even when I am dusbudding 3 down. I'm still covering everything with organza bags, so no plant photos for you yet.

SteveM

MissyWeitzel Have you done a "vase test" on Lyn's Lexi? The biggest fault with WL's (in my growing conditions) is that many varieties shatter after only 2-3 days. Here, brokers are leary of buying WL types because of the (perceived) relatively short vase life.

MissyWeitzel

SteveM I haven't yet just because the extreme heat and other issues were causing a shorter vase life on everything. I just cut one this morning and I will report back!

Bessie

SteveM I'll make sure to spend more time vase testing! That is great info for me to know about shattering of waterlilies.

Teddahlia

Why did we not enter HH Daydream into the trial gardens? It goes to show that two people can not be aware how good a flower is in their seedlings. We knew it was very good but it turns out that it is better than that. Picture taken a few minutes ago.

Dahlia53

Teddahlia i bought one tuber of Hollyhill Daydream from the PDS sale, but mine has a lot more yellow in it toward the center and is more orange than pink, gradually getting a little pinker on maturity - but not like this. This is GORGEOUS. Still, it blooms profusely and early. I'll likely keep it anyway, even though it doesn't have the wonderful more solid coloring of this picture.

BarryO

GARDEN MARKERS: I write the varietal name on a plastic tag using a Sharpie. BUT.....then I attach the tag to the tuber and plant it. While the Sharpie may not hold up to the sun, it is perfectly fine underground attached to the tuber clump! Moreover, when the clumps are dug up, they remain attached to the tag, reducing the chance of losing the identity of the clump. In addition, I make a crude diagram of my garden, and make several copies of the diagram. The diagram is attached to a clip board and as I go through the garden. I can make notes on the diagram for each plant.

SteveM

one day I will start a thread on shattering. Some varieties shatter for me all of the time and some varieties shatter occasionally. So, it seems it is both genetic and/or environmental. I haven't been able to isolate the variable that causes the occasional shattering. (e.g. ,night temps, specific fungicide, watering, etc.)Too little time to experiment.

Bessie

SteveM I spend a fair amount of time pulling petals off blooms. Some petals come off easily, others will rip the flower head because the petals are attached so strongly. I'm wondering if the blooms that pull off easily will also drop the petals more readily. I need to test...

Teddahlia

Barry O. can come over and do all our markers. Helen (Bair)of the old Helen's Dahlias, nearly next door to the late Phil Mingus, used chickens to eat the insects. Chickens love to dig to find insects and disrupt the soil and 90% of her tags were kicked into oblivion. I was her lucky customer of tubers that year. Have you ever ordered dahlias and about 70% of them were the wrong variety? To be fair, she lost several of her own introductions to the over zealous chickens. One was her "Helen's Norma Jean" an MFD in Marilyn Monroe red lipstick color. I really wanted that one and not because I was fixated on Marilyn Monroe(well maybe). The point of this is that the next year Helen buried the tags with the tubers just like Barry O. Unfortunately, when we are marking the good seedlings to retain, I do need to know the seedling number on the plant tag. Digging up the clump is not very feasible and so I do quite often use the "two tag method " where I double my chances of finding one tag.
Picture of one of those "Margaret likes" flowers.

BarryO

Teddahlia
Ted, thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass on doing the Hollyhill markers. Thanks for having confidence in me🙂

Juliarugula

One thing that does not fade is pencil. The disadvantage is that it can be difficult to read unless up close, so I don’t use it for that reason. Also probably won’t work on flagging tape, or on some labels with a shinier finish. Grease pencils are good too, but difficult to write small with.

I mostly use plain old black sharpie and it usually works well for one season for me. I’ve noticed that if labels wind up laying flat facing up, they tend to fade in the sun. Whereas if they stay in their stuck-in-the-ground vertical position they’ll be fine.

ksc

I only use the Pentel N50S Fine Permanent Marker. They last for years and I can reuse tags for multiple seasons. I store the tags right in the tuber storage boxes. I now only use the black as I used the blue ones one year and they faded beyond recognition halfway through the season. The caps are sometimes hard to get off but I deal with it.

calico20hill

One of my frustrations is being a bit ADD, Loosing track of what I planted where, and then not being sure whether something I really like is one of my seedlings or whether I am claiming someone else's variety as one of my own. And this year the sun faded nearly all my markers (that were specific Garden Markers). I make many notes, then can't find where I put them....

This year I have so many wonderful blooms and I planted many new seedlings, but What if......? What if I claimed it was mine and someone else recognizes it as NOT mine?

When the weather cools enough I will take all my notes to the garden and try to verify which ones actually are Salish Seedlings...I know that many of mine really ARE from seed this year. But I do worry.

Bessie

calico20hill I've found a bit of insurance with tubers, by writing in indelible ink the name on every tuber during dividing time, or planting time if it's a purchased tuber. If I follow that strictly, I should always know when I've purchased a tuber. For me, my cutting methodology can get a bit haphazard. Mislabeling at the cutting stage can really throw things off. I'm getting better, and realize I will NOT remember that a cutting was from a gopher disaster where there was an entire stalk chomped down that I made multiple cuttings from. I now strive to label everything. I label every picture I take within a day or two. Right now I must be super diligent to keep Hollyhill Daydream and it's two children, 24225 and 24232 labeled. I think I can tell them apart at this point. 24225 is long stemmed, with longer petals and fewer flowers, while 24232 has more "softer" petals that are a bit lighter shade of coral, almost a peachy color and is a robust plant that is covered with a mass of blooms.

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