Cut flower dahlias

MissyWeitzel

We have talked about dahlias that makes great cuts in many other threads, but it would be great to keep a master list going. Several forum participants agreed recently that if a dahlia still looks great 5 days later, it makes a good cut flower. Let's use that as our unofficial guideline.
Sunday morning I cut myself a bouquet of mostly waterlily dahlias. I didn't change the water or recut stems and I did not include Floralife. It is 5 days later and here is what still looks great:
(Probably) Hollyhill Snowqueen
Hollyhill Sweet 16
Sandia Bertha
Sandia Pouffe (anemone)

Juliarugula

MissyWeitzel what is the top sort of peachy one? It doesn’t look like any of the ones you listed?

Justafewdahlias

MissyWeitzel What stage are they at when you cut them? I cut most dahlias really immature and I have still had good luck with them opening. I think I have the same mindset cutting dahlias that I do when I’m cutting tulips or Lillies or any flower to put in a vase which is “how early can I cut this where it will actually still fully bloom in the vase”

SteveM

MissyWeitzel if a dahlia still looks great 5 days later, it makes a good cut

That sounds like a good general guideline. I do my vase (bucket) test by placing them in my barn at ambient temperature so the temperature varies quite a bit depending on the time of year. I almost always place a known good variety (in my case Peaches-N-Cream or Blizzard) in the bucket along with the varieties being tested so I will have a relative comparison.

MissyWeitzel it would be great to keep a master list going.

#1 on my list is Peaches-N-Cream. It isn't my personal favorite dahlia but it is my best cut dahlia overall.

MissyWeitzel

Juliarugula I didn't list the ones that are fading 😅 it is Sandia Bliss. (Edited to say it was early and my kitchen was dark when I took this)

MissyWeitzel

Justafewdahlias 3/4 "ripe"

Teddahlia

MissyWeitzel
How unripe can you pick the flowers of this variety?
(1)Steve is a professional cut flower grower . He has stated some figures on this issue in the past and I believe it is variety specific and varies quite a bit.
(2) Cut flowers for events need only about 3 days of vase life. I would bet that for many reasons a seller can charge much more for event flowers. A dahlia person in Washington, had Thursday sales of really nice event flowers and several event florists would buy them. These tend to be larger flowers. If I were an event florist, these special dahlias would be ideal. Ginger Clack fostered a relationship with an event florist and he would buy hundreds of flowers at a time from her.

MissyWeitzel

Teddahlia I don't have a super specific answer other than it definitely depends on the dahlia form and in general, if talking about fully double dahlias, I cut when 2/3 to 3/4 mature. I cut everything every other day (and sometimes every day) and that helps keep me from accidentally selling something too far past. I'm so used to cutting them early I have to really force myself to leave things on the plant longer for show blooms!
Steve is definitely far more of an expert than I am. I learned everything I know just from doing or from reading cut flower manuals, like this one that covers professional growing information as well as harvesting and post harvest care for just about any cut flower you can think of. I am certain that selling in markets, retail, or to wholesalers would be a lot more difficult or have more specific parameters. I sell to florists that pretty much love everything they get from me and from the very first bucket I sold, I haven't had any requests to change anything about what I do, which is honestly kind of wild. This season is only my 4th year selling to florists.

JessieC

SteveM That’s a good idea, to place a “control” variety in the bucket. This is the first year that I don’t have PnC. While I didn’t always love the color, it was such a reliable producer!
So far, I’ve noticed that HH Serenity is a good cut flower. I was traveling and haven’t been too scientific about vase life, but I’ll pay more attention. Long slender stems make a big difference to me, and the shape of the bloom is easy to work with.

Ludmila

SteveM

Peaches-N-Cream

We in the Northeast had the absolutely terrible year, with relentless heat and drought. I visited a farm in Hudson Valley, and their best looking dahlia bushes were Peaches N Cream. Looks like it tolerates the heat the best. I wish I liked it more!

SteveM

Ludmila Peaches N Cream. Looks like it tolerates the heat the bes

Yes that is one variety that produces better for me when grown in full sun rather than ubder shade. It is also one of the only bicolors where the white doesn't burn in the back florets (grown in the sun).