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

Yellow dahlias are white dahlias that have some extra chemicals attached to the pigment chemical.

calico20hill

So in a yellow and white combination the chemical that makes yellow just doesn't make it out to the tips?

Teddahlia

Bicolor flowers have a gene that turns off the yellow color on the tip of the floret. That tip grows first and then as more of the floret grows, the gene allows the yellow to form on the majority of the floret. So bicolor is a gene that affects the color pattern.

PegMc

Has anyone here grown Orsett Beauty? According to Triple Wren: "Orsett Beauty is a pure white ball dahlia. Early to bloom, extremely vigorous, and highly productive. " It didn't bloom early here, but then everything about last year here was just "off"! That said,,, At the end of last season, when it was frigid cold, damp & windy, when I only had three more tuber clumps to dig & divide at the very end of the very last row, I caved to exhaustion. So now these three have a good jump on the growing season! One good thing about last year, I really had no issue with slugs, but apparently the slugs have a jump on this season, or something else has been nibbling on the new leaves. Probably slugs?!

calico20hill

I always assume slugs until proven otherwise. That said, I see very few slugs and little slug damage in my garden protected by ducks. The only bug damage I have an issue with is the ones that fly in and attack the tops of the plants. And when the plants are small someitmes the ducks will pull one out in their bug searces and leave it with its roots in the sun, but that doesn't happen often.

My little ducks are 2 weeks old now...and no fatalities. They are growing and doing fine.

Teddahlia

Orsett Beauty: Never heard of it so I googled some pictures. Usually, they can get a flower to look good for the picture but not this one. Calling it a ball dahlia would get a judge fired. Green centers abound and not ball form and not even a catchy name either. White flowers must get a wink wink because they are white.

PegMc

Teddahlia I get what you are saying about everything else, Ted, but I really didn't have any green centers, and it was prolific once it got going. Which, haha, wasn't 'til 02 NOVEMBER!

I scrolled way down on my Instagram to see if I had a photo to show.

calico20hill

Ted, I agree with you on this one. I tried it several years ago and was totally unimpressed. My own Snow Day was far prettier for ny cut flower needs. I know they are not the same but where I needed a small white it worked.

Cosey

Re: Orsett Beauty

I haven't grown this in many years but my memory is telling me at the season end the stems got weak.

Teddahlia

White is very hard to breed. People want white with no blush and that is even more difficult. White dahlia pigment when it goes a step or two further, becomes yellow pigment. A solid yellow dahlia can sport to a white dahlia and that happens when something interferes with that chemical that makes it yellow.

Bessie

Hillcrest Amour first blooms. Petal substance does not seem as good as Blizzard. Last year it didn't bloom, so I moved growing location in my yard. This year I think I'm growing from a cutting. Fully opened bloom is 4" and smaller bloom is 3". I didn't disbud, and stem length appears to be about 15" for the grouping in the photo. Temperatures have been in the 80's to low 90's the past two weeks. No vase life test yet.

Hillcrest Amour

AndreaB

Bessie I don’t grow many whites because of the Japanese Beetles, but I’ve always liked this variety. Surprised to see yours is solid white, with no pinky blush in the middle.

Bessie

AndreaB last year was my first year growing Alloway Candy and I couldn't believe how white the blooms were compared to all the images I saw online. I wasn't sure if this Dahlia( I think I purchased from Tall-grass Farms) was a different variety or if what I had was a sport. Below are recent photos of the plant this year.

Teddahlia

Not Alloway Candy but may be a white sport. White is the color that few people really admire but every cut flower seller cannot get enough of it for weddings and functions. White is hard to breed as it can have so many different defects and it is not a very high percentage of the seedlings.

drewtheflorist

I chart this one as Wh 0 ...I'll wait to see what the trial garden decides

Bessie

drewtheflorist , you might consider posting the beautiful image of Wh 0 in the seedling forum. https://forum.dahliaaddict.com/d/138-dahlia-seedling-pictures-2023/263

calico20hill

Lovely white, Drew!

I found a solid white Twilight Girl Seedling this afternoon that looks like an excellent cut flower. Its not a "thriller" but it looks like a good little work horse! . I am also starting to get some wildly different colors in the seedlings,I'll take my phone out tomorrow and get a pic of the white one.

calico20hill

Here is new White Twilight Girl seedling

Teddahlia

Why is white so frustrating to breed? It seems that white flowers can have a whole set of "negative" traits beyond the normal open center, poor stems and of course either bad show form or worse bad form even for cut flowers. In no particular order:
(1) Burned petals usually caused by a lack of pigment. White color is probably the result of many different pigments or lack of pigment but many in small quantities that burn easily .
(2) Wrong color and by that I mean a blush of lavender(or pink or purple) . Purists seem to demand solid white dahlia flowers and the majority of them are not "pure" white. Yellow tones are less an issue but again purists want pure white.
(3) Overall substance. The plants seem to have lighter colored foliage and are less vigorous and may have poorer stems.
(4) They do not breed true and white crossed with white may not give a lot of white seedlings. Perhaps this is because there are the different versions of white meaning that white can be result of different sets of genes and you need to match your genetic whites to get more consistency.

drewtheflorist

Teddahlia But the bugs love 'em !

Bessie

A few more whites blooming
Swan Lake are about 3" in my garden with lime green centers that make the bloom look very "fresh".

Solo is still opening in this photo, but the first bloom is about 5".

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