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...

Teddahlia

Ph of the soil does not affect dahlia color as it does in hydrangeas. They studied this at Stanford.

Bessie

I've got a pretty basic question that I should already know the answer to.
For cut dahlias, are closed center dahlias expected to stay closed center once in a vase and opening?
Are there an elapsed number of days that are acceptable for a small pollen center to be exposed?
I've culled many seedlings because of a consistent popping of an open center.

I have a seedling that is a phenomenal plant, and has beautiful informal decorative blooms with a good bloom angle. It's 4" blooms are popping a 3/8" open center after a few days in the vase. It could be the weather, or just the genetics. What's your analysis?
This bloom is 4" and was picked 6 full days ago. 24106

To see a bigger image, right click on the image and open in a new tab. These are photos before the center opens.

SteveM

Bessie Are there an elapsed number of days that are acceptable for a small pollen center to be exposed?

If a seedling has a vase life of 6 days then the presence/absence of a pollen center is totally irrelevant to its value as a cut variety. Keep it, at least for another year. (Maybe take cuttings for insurance)

calico20hill

When I was selling bouquets the standard I used was that the flowers hold their centers for at least 5 days. That meant we could pick them on Mondays, arrange and deliver on Tuesday (Some business were closed on Mondays) and they would be good through Friday and the end of the workweek. This was my own standard, for my own business but I never had any complaints about it.

Bessie

calico20hill thank you for that information!! It's a good specific, standard of measure. Would your best varieties keep their closed center throughout the season?

calico20hill

Bessie To the best of my memory, yes. However, my bouquets were not all dahlias so if they started looking funky I would have substituted something that looked better. I did go through Halloween though so a little messy was fine with my customers by the very end. And the last bouquets may have been something like Japanese maple leaves that were coloring up, asters, roses, and chrysanthemums with what ever dahlias still looked good. It was so much fun making them meet my standard through to 1 Nov! I had a LOT of plants of all kinds so there was always something up until killing frost.

Teddahlia

Perhaps we need a detailed time line of "ripening cut flowers". Start with ripe enough to sell and ending with last time the "flower can remain in a bouquet" . The starting point is important as some flowers look very good while immature and will ripen still looking good while others look bad until nearly "ripe". I believe Steve is saying there is a big difference between barely seeing a pollen center and having actual pollen ripening and flying around. I believe Steve and Noni are saying also saying that after 5 days the flower has "passed" the test and adding more days to the "vase test" becomes less important. For a commercial seller flowers that lasts well passed 5 days(6, 7,8?) are not necessary. My numbers here are not very useful. When we sold bouquets from our house 2 days was all we cared about. Most all flowers sold were one day old.

SteveM

Teddahlia detailed time line of "ripening cut flowers".

I cut twice a week for market. The blooms I cut on Sunday sit overnight here and then go into my broker's cooler on Monday. I cut when the blooms are 1/3 to 2/3 open but toss any blooms that are fully open. This is a photo of Hollyhill Lilibet cut at the perfect stage for market. It will make a show person cringe but, in a few days, she will be in great form (except for the split tips which are heat related).

calico20hill

A big part of making our bouquets last was teaching the customer how to display and care for them. There were the people who liked to set them in a sunny window because they loved the light shining through the flowers, then wondered why they were fried by day 2 or 3. Or the ones who set them by the fireplace or a heat vent when we started getting chilly nights. Also, the ones who never changed the water in their vases. Or the bride's mom who set all the table flowers out on the tables at the beach in the morning on a hot August day, so she could cross that chore off her list....(The sympathetic bridesmaids showed up at my stand at the Farmer's Market in desperation looking for fresh flowers at 2 in the afternoon....I donated what I could because I felt sorry for the local bride...)

MissyWeitzel

I cut about "here" for selling. Not ready to exhibit but mature enough to work in arrangements even if the florist won't be holding them long.
Hollyhill Fingerpaint

Teddahlia

Cute little waterlily seedling and flowers about 3 inches in diameter. So far, the flowers have this very small green center. Does that hold it back from being a cut flower? It is a negative as far as being a show flower. Margaret likes the bright colors.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hollyhilldahlias/54778333231/in/dateposted-public/
Flickr version of picture can be enlarged. Link above.

Bessie

Teddahlia I think the green center may actually add to it's appeal in a floral arrangement. Green can be a unifying color in a bouquet, helping to tie in the foliage.

SteveM

Teddahlia flowers have this very small green center. Does that hold it back from being a cut flower?

Those centers would not get any deduction on my "cut dahlia scorecard". Great to see some breeders are still breeding for "cheery" instead of breeding for "moody". I just talked to a friend from Mexico who grows commercial cut dahlias near Mexico City. He said there, the bright, clean colors sell better than the "wedding colors" that are in demand here. He wanted all of the bright yellow varieties I had (I had one). Maybe, someday, bright colors will be back in vogue here.

Juliarugula

Teddahlia oh! This is the one I was talking about on your other post(about the open centered seedling). So bright and cool!

calico20hill

I agree with Margaret! Love the colors!

Teddahlia

calico20hill Noni: You are a connoisseur of flowers that have darker colors on the reverse of the florets. And often with that trait the petals have picotee outlining.

calico20hill

Teddahlia More, more, give me more please!

calico20hill

Also, Steve, I get a lot of lovely yellow flowered seedlings. I will see what I can put in your package this fall...

SteveM

calico20hill Thanks Noni, but I kept 2 yellow seedlings that I "had" to keep this year so I have a total of 3 yellow varieties now. That is probably 3 more yellow varieties than I will need in my lifetime. I am fat with yellows.🙂

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