White Dahlias

SteveM · 2023-03-15T03:53:54+00:00

Currently I'm using "Blizzard" as my small "pure white" commercial cut variety. Has anyone compared Blizzard to either "Skipley Swan Song" or "Coseytown Earl...

Teddahlia

I should not post this picture as I could only guess the names of the flowers. HH Lilibet is the one on the upper right.

SteveM

Teddahlia Are those all seedlings? I have always liked the form that the bottom right bloom displays. Maybe not a show flower (which is ironic because this form looks more like a real waterlily than most ADS waterlilies) but it seems that this form is often on a tall plant with long wiry stems and makes an excellent production cut flower. Nice display!

Ailhad

Teddahlia Another HH Lillibeth fan here. It didn't have enough room this year, which will definitely change next year.

Teddahlia

There is a very old gene associated with some waterlily varieties that causes waterlily form, wire stems(not hollow) and spur leaves on the stem and finally extremely tall plants, some 10 feet or more. I avoid it and it is not in our stock.

SteveM

Teddahlia causes waterlily form, wire stems(not hollow) and spur leaves on the stem and finally extremely tall plants,

I can understand why you wouldn't want those genes floating around show flowers. On the other hand, they make excellent commercial cut flowers. I have grown two varieties (that I can remember) with those traits: Ginger Snap (Swan Island) and Candy Cane (also its sport 'Be a Sport'). Both had almost perfect growth habit (upright, not spreading like most show WLs) and were heavy producers of salable stems all season. I have gotten a few nice cut-flower seedlings from Ginger Snap.

SGriff

Teddahlia is a spur leave a little leaflet that grows along the stem, under a bud, sort of randomly placed?

DarcyD

HH Lillibet is swoon-worthy!!! It doesn’t even look real in real-life 😁 I’m in love with this one and highly recommend it to waterlily lovers.

Teddahlia

I will tell Margaret that you like it and you all know it is named after the late Queen Elizabeth whose nickname was Lilibet in her youth. If I remember, I will have Teresa Bergman send one to her friend in the UK. He would distribute it.

Bessie

Teddahlia I like HH Daydream a little more than HH Lilibet. The UK needs HH Daydream too, in my opinion.☺

JessieC

SteveM
Interesting about Ginger Snap. I grew it as a last minute add last season and it was such a pretty and productive plant. The foliage itself was remarkably attractive and distinctive. The tubers looked good too, so I hope to try it in a couple of spots next year! I love the look of water lily dahlias, but until GS, didn’t love the plants themselves. Thanks for another fascinating discussion!

Teddahlia

Sounds like a cut flower line of waterlily type flowers is in your future. I believe Swan Island's Rawhide is this type. It is hard to believe that one gene could do all those things.

SteveM

Teddahlia I'm just guessing, but I suspect it is several genes that are linked, rather than just one gene. In a diploid this would be similar to the "wilty gene" and the "heart-shaped-fruit gene" which are almost always linked but can also occur independently. Similarly, I have seen the stem spurs, independent of the other linked traits, on several other varieties (e.g. HH Tiger Rose). Since you and Margaret are correcting the errant growth habit of the old show waterlilys, I see no reason to intentionally breed waterlilies for cut.

Teddahlia

10 years ago most all waterlilies were not very vigorous. Show growers seem to take the lack of vigor as a challenge for them to grow them well when others cannot. We like vigorous and tall dahlias. Waterlilies can be vigorous.
I posted this picture previously but it shows a nice purple seedling waterlily growing nearly 8 feet tall.

NCDahlia

Teddahlia Great picture!

DarcyD

Yes, you’re right Ted…that’s true about waterlilies not being very vigorous in the past. About 12-13 years ago I grew only waterlilies in one of my rectangles. Not a single plant in that rectangle thrived while the rest in every other rectangle did. I haven’t really favored growing waterlilies since then until this past year. I actually think you may have been the one who clued me in to that back then. I thought something was wrong with the soil or something.

Emilyp

Many of the waterlilies I have grown like to spread and hug the ground in my zone (zone 5). Not HH Lilibet, she was a strong and tall upright grower. I think she is pretty much perfect.

NCDahlia

Interesting 2024 white / blush from David Jack at Ferncliff - I ordered it

https://ferncliffgardens.com/products/daves-glacier

SteveM

JessieC Ginger Snap made an interesting cut flower. The color was fantastic and included that "sheen" that made it sparkle. Unfortunately, the blooms bruised easily and each crease in the bruise showed up as a dark crease. It wasn't possible to bunch the blooms without bruising them so I cut them when they were about 1/4 open and let them finish opening at the market. It was/is a great cut dahlia.

JessieC

SteveM
Exactly right! They were also very pretty to watch unfold. I ended up leaving a lot of them on the plant, and will put them in the “display” area of the garden. But they also made for dynamic arrangements, and that golden color was just lovely.
(Sorry to hijack the “white dahlia” thread into a different color 😅)

Teddahlia

Spur leaves on stems are very small leaves that appear almost randomly along the stem and sometimes only one or two and sometimes even more. They are single leaves and probably are always less than an inch long and often smaller. They have been "declared" to be a fault by the ADS show flower people who do not like them and when they are on a show bloom judges nearly always say negative things to each other and use that as an excuse to award the ribbon to the other entry. The trait is definitely linked to the "wire" stemmed waterlily dahlias who usually have several of them. By the way, if you remove them with sharp knife they scar is generally quite apparent. For me, the "wire" stemmed dahlias are like a different species of dahlias and are known also for their height and Ridlings Wicked Witch(note we copied that name for one of ours) grew 12 feet tall.

« Previous Page Next Page »