General Dahlia Chat 2023

blown_dry · 2023-02-04T23:41:17+00:00

Continuing from https://cubits.org/Dahlias/thread/view/91587/?offset=560#end_of_thread

edewitt

All this talk of heirloom apples makes me want to track down some seeds of these and grow a few trees. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-last-wild-apple-forests-almaty-kazakhstan They say that area is the origin of quite a few fruits.

Darce

edewitt

I don’t know if this is still true but according to this article about the USDA apple collection repository you might be able to get seeds sent to you
“ Malus sieversii is a species native to Kazakhstan which is believed to be the primary ancestor of most cultivars of orchard apple (Malus domestica), and it is in danger of extinction. Keeping these specimens alive on dwarf and their own rootstocks is very important to this collection and the future of food. Two very late varieties still with fruit on them, KAZ 96 09-02 and KAZ 96 09-02, were pretty tasty, and lots of other large crabapples from various species were deliciously sour as well. If you have a good bit of outdoor space and patience, you can write to C. Thomas Chao requesting a Malus sieversii seed packet from their open-pollinated block, and he’ll send you 25 seeds and instructions for stratification and germination. Beware, however, that they could end up anywhere between 10’ and 50’ tall!”
https://www.phillyorchards.org/2016/10/26/the-world-of-apples-a-tour-of-the-usda-apple-collection/

Teddahlia

I received our Dahlias of Today publication in the mail today with a nice note from Roger Walker. I cheat and do not have to pay for the publication as I am one of the authors, doing the article on the trial garden at Swan Island. Margaret and I always cruise through it right away looking for Hollyhill stuff. We got some mentions here and there and a few pictures too. I enjoyed reading the article about Wayne Holland of Hy Dahlia fame. I am glad to see he still has his hat in the ring and is breeding a few dahlias. It is the very best dahlia publication by far and this issue does not disappoint.

Darce

Teddahlia

Oh you inspired me to sign up for membership and get a copy of the magazine. I may live too far away to ever come to a in person meeting but the magazine looks fab!

Krista

Teddahlia You inspired me in the same way as Darce! I have finally gotten around to renewing my PDS membership, and I signed up for the Puget Sound Dahlias Association as well so that I could receive my 2022 edition of Dahlias of Today. Looking forward to reading Hollyhill's mentions and poring over photos!

NCDahlia

There is a grower who I have done business with for +15 years about 45 mins from me. 400 Heirloom apple trees you will not find any of these in any grocery store or box box store / home depot, walmart etc. I ended up buying 65 trees from him and have them trained on the tall spindle apple system which is high density where you have in-row spacing 3-4 ft between trees and 11 ft row spacing. My first love was always manipulating fruit trees and bushes. I also have 12 peach trees, now those are super vigorous growers u can not kill a peach tree 😂 I usually cut out 50% of the tree every year. I sell the cut peach tree fruiting wood to whole foods. They label them as flowering sticks lol. That's how u can always tell if you have freeze damage cut off a 1 foot section and see if u get bud break leaving in water.

https://www.centuryfarmorchards.com/descripts/osapage1.html

https://www.centuryfarmorchards.com/descripts/osapage2.html

Darce

I have a small village backyard but I have espaliered or pruned to grow as v small trees several apples and plums. It’s so fun to experiment with that- last year was the first year I got a little crop of apples and it was so cool eating them and even giving a few away to the little kids in my neighborhood!
I ordered a bunch of root stocks and scion wood from Burnt Ridge and am going to try my hand at grafting this year.
If you are in the north and need cold hardy fruit trees- Cummins nursery has loads of heirloom apple and pear trees and they also conduct the trials of new varieties for Cornell.
https://www.cumminsnursery.com/

calico20hill

Maybe tomorrow? I only had one flyer for something I wasn't interested in in my mail. I wonder of mail is still slowed up from the snowstorm.

AKWindWatcher

Darce Yup! Rhubarb, like dahlias, does not grow true from seed though. Every variety out there is a hybrid of some sort. I have all the EFN rhubarb seeds though and am growing them out to see what pops up.

Darce

AKWindWatcher

I thought you might be familiar with EFN. love this grower - I am winter sowing the Tracy and the breeders mix this year from them and last year I winter sowed the Allport and gave several seedlings to my friends and neighbours- it’s a looooong wait till harvest of course but the seedlings are so cute and it’s going to be interesting to see how they all eventually turn out

Teddahlia

Tonight at 7PM Pacific Time is the Dahlia Talk Zoom meeting where people of all skill levels sit near their computer and take in almost random talk about dahlias. Dan Baulig the moderator, has a very meager agenda that is used sometimes but most of the discussion is just dahlia questions from the most basic(basic questions can be the most complicated to answer) to esoteric subjects like micropropagation(not yet talked about but you never know). . The attendees vary from novice growers and very experienced growers and breeders. Since I have only been growing dahlias since 1990 , some of the people may consider me to to be the new kid on the block.

Krista

Teddahlia I look forward to joining these and becoming more active! I believe my membership is still pending but I’ll be joining as soon and often as possible.

Teddahlia

Membership in PDS is not required for Dahlia Talk but it may make it easier to get notifications about dates and times.

Krista

Teddahlia I do see it in the News & Events on the website but I’m not finding a Zoom link included. I’ll poke around more and see if I can figure out how to join tonight though, I’d very much like to.

Teddahlia

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87070954664?pwd=OUhWOG90UUpHNENiMU5sWHZpczFEdz09

Krista

Teddahlia Oh thank you, I’ll be there tonight then!

Krista

Teddahlia Well, that was the best time I've had! I just loved listen to other folks chatting about dahlias, finally! I learned so much and I can't wait for the next one. Thank you so much for sharing the Zoom link with me!

Teddahlia

Dahlia Talk was very good tonight and I tried to put in a plug for this site and the continuation of Cubits. I rather enjoyed the fact that the old timer Dick Parshall had a different take on some things. And I dislike oasis cubes for rooting but nearly everyone seems to be using them. I have my reasons and I only take about 1,000 cuttings each year.

Krista

Teddahlia I felt a bit star-struck in that Zoom, if I’ll be honest. So many pros like you, calico20hill, Mr. Parshall of Clearview and others who I’m too much of a novice to recognize. Also, humbling to encounter folks I’ve brushed shoulders with via various FB channels, not to mention all my botched orders (reiterating that Ms Teresa of Cowlitz is an angel). What a night, and my partner couldn’t be more thrilled that I’m finding more avenues to find dahlia communities to immerse myself into. I can’t say enough times how exhausted he is from being my sole dahlia-discussion recipient. I’m on cloud nine tonight!

calico20hill

Hi Krista! I waved but you couldn't see me because I was invisible. IT was nice to put a face to your name! Yes, I thought the session went very well....It was a good reminder to me to get those supplies on hand to kill the fungus gnats that like to take over my greenhouse. I havent seen them yet but it is probably only a matter or days or hours before they show up.

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