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

Teddahlia

The flower Purple Joy produced a seedling for us many years ago and we called it Hollyhill Joy. I have been re-selecting stock and it grew very well this past year and here is it's 2022 picture. It will be grown in greater numbers this year and we may be able to sell some stock. For many years we did not grow this one in our garden but kept only a pot tuber. That method works well and HH Chloe was brought back from the dead too and bloomed very well after 5 or so years as a pot tuber.

Juliarugula

Teddahlia wow Ted! That purple is amazing! I’ve never been much of a purple person, but the color is particularly unique. Do you think the photo is pretty true to color? (I know color shows up differently depending on the screen, but…)

janell

Teddahlia Based on your prior praise, I purchased Purple Joy this winter. I hope its color is similar to its seedling.

Teddahlia For many years we did not grow this one in our garden but kept only a pot tuber. That method works well and HH Chloe was brought back from the dead too and bloomed very well after 5 or so years as a pot tuber.

@Teddahlia , would you describe how you grow your pot tubers? Do they typically bloom?

AndreaB

Teddahlia The flower Purple Joy produced a seedling for us many years ago and we called it Hollyhill Joy.

I ordered Purple Joy this year after you previously mentioned it was a good purple. I doubt I’ll like it more than HH Regal, which I love.

Krista

Teddahlia Very pretty, what size bloom is Hollyhill Joy?

addicted

I would love to find Jennie again. It's been several years since I lost her. Gone for good?

Em in NY

edewitt

addicted I've seen posts in Facebook groups with people still growing it. Only Lobaugh's offered it up this year, hopefully more in the future.

Dahlia53

addicted I lost Jennie this year; had her for years. However, my plot 'landlady' has it and we have traded it back and forth for many years - I originally gave it to her. Maybe I can get it again next fall from hers. Or even this spring - I have often had success with certain varieties taking a small 'chunk' from the side of a clump that hasn't been divided in awhile. If I get it I'll gladly share with you.

Teddahlia

Jennie named after Phil Traff's mother who used to come to shows after he died and was a clerk. Bred from Cyril Higgo varieties by Phil Traff and Jennie was best in show at the National show.in Vancouver B.C. It was the first national show I attended. Had the kids with us and they were bored in a few minutes. Margaret and I were awe struck.

KitCMC

Not sure if I’m late to the party and everyone already knows about this, but the Quebec dahlia society has a fantastic, alphabetized photo library.
[http://www.sqdahlia.qc.ca/Photos.htm]

Teddahlia

HH Joy is a large BB and is almost formal decorative and is a nice purple but not quite as nice as it's parent. I remember a garden tour person from the East coast selecting HH Joy as one of her favorites back when. Pot tubers should be covered in another thread and I do nothing extraordinary and they seldom bloom but a few do. They are obviously not grown for their blooms but are primarily my "insurance" policy for loss in the garden and for increasing stock. In the UK most every serious grower grows pot tubers.

PegMc

Hapet Champagne & Nadia Ruth seem quite similar to one another. For anyone who has grown both, do you have a preference for one over the other? Which one would you consider more floriferous? Tuber increase? Better storage, by chance, one over the other? TIA...!

AndreaB

PegMc I’ve grown Nadia Ruth for several years, and added Hapet Champagne last year.
Other than both being laciniated, they’re quite different.

Hapet Champagne bloomed mid-season, 3.5-4’ H and very floriferous in a buff/champagne color. Tubers are long and somewhat skinny, but seem to have stored well (so far). Also had some of the prettiest immature blooms I’ve ever seen!

Nadia Ruth bloomed late (September), 4.5-5’ H and is also floriferous. Pink w/creamy center.
Easy-keeping tubers.

Hapet Champagne👇

I’ll try to find a pic of Nadia and will post later.

AndreaB

PegMc Hapet Champagne & Nadia Ruth seem quite similar to one another.

Here’s a pic of Nadia Ruth.

edewitt

AndreaB the more photos I see of Hapet Champagne the more I'd like to grow it. I can't really put my finger on what it is but the petals have this unique look to them.

AndreaB

Another one of Hapet Champagne

PegMc

Thanks so much, Andrea!

Teddahlia

I thought I posted a version of this but I do not see it on my posts. It is handy to be able to review what you have posted just by clicking on your profile.
Margaret and I did one of our supply shopping trips and we support a very small horticulture supply company that is now a one man operation. We bought a bunch of supplies and Margaret and I both had a long winded conversation with the owner. We cannot resist buying 6 inch plant tags and bought 5,000 of them in three colors chosen by Margaret. I avoid the orange ones as the ink fades on them. Time release(Haifa) fertilizer for our flower addiction costs $94.00 for 50 pounds now. We paid $70- a couple of years ago. Plantex 20-20-20 greenhouse fertilizer is up to $45- now. Germination mix $23- for 2.8 cubic feet. Our club is charging us about 15% more for germination mix. Nitrile gloves for Margaret. Five 20 gallon pots and one 25 gallon. There was unfortunately a small plant nursery that opened up next door and Margaret can smell a plant from 20 miles away. She exercised good self control and only bought two variegated rhododendron plants that have purple flowers. Another nursery was on the way home and the pansies and violas were on sale along with a Euonymus , a sedge and an abelia.

PegMc

Teddahlia & et al, here's a tip for something to look for in your area(s). I checked and tobacco is grown in NW Washington state; I didn't check other states. But to share, I was ordering pro-mix bale -- shipping costs were crazy & I couldn't source it locally. I was given a tip by a local grower to buy "tobacco soil" in the bag -- 2.8 cubic sold for $13 last year; this year it's up to a whopping $18. 😊 By visual and feel, you have to look really close to see the difference between this and the Pro-Mix. It's what tobacco growers use to start their seedlings. Product of Canada. http://www.beltwide.net/products (mine is "The Gold"). Really nice to be able to pick it up just under 2 miles away from my residence! Lambert also has it. This video shows production, start-to-finish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0pOUFhgEXE

blown_dry

Teddahlia Margaret can smell a plant from 20 miles away.

Hah!

calico20hill

Ah, shopping for our dahlia babies! Its almost as much fun as setting up our Baby Nurseries so many years ago, and a whole lot less worrisome! I just ordered from Greenhouse Megastore, that is much easier as we are a ways from any big nurseries here. Your varigated purple rhodies sound lovely! And you have the excuse of hosting the dahlia tour this August so you have to do everything up pretty.

My order was for plant labels, but I bought a bunch of new pots last year so am good on those. I am loving the size of the pots I bought...they are just a little smaller then the ones I was using and I can get 18 in a tray without wedging them in. With my bigger pots I could only get 15 and had to pull the center row up to fit the slanted sides of the pots. These pots are nearly square and a little shorter but so far everything fits.

I also bought a bunch of grow-bags for my veggies...I found that the Grow bag system works wonderfully for setting on top of my heavy clay soil. Much easier then trying to amend that much clay for vegetable garden! I bought a load of organic garden soil and fill the grow bags then set the drip lines along the tops of the bags. This year I am trying 2 of the big potato bags and two shorter ones for carrots and turnips (My son loves baby turnips for snacking). We had the most wonderful crops of tomatoes last year in the grow bags!

Linda, are you continuing to use grow bags for dahlias? I loved that you could move yours to the shade when the heat wave hit.

Krista

I also recently placed an order with Greenhouse Megastore. I’d like to support local for all things gardening, but I’ve found that I need to explore affordable options in parts of my gardening addiction. I ordered Deep Cell Plug Trays and 3 x 8” Treepots (it is still a mystery to me how nurseries grow seedlings to the size they do in 4” pots without roots pouring out the weep holes - I would love to know the secret which I’m sure I can find in this group!), and 100 6” Plant Labels. We have a wonderful, tiny nursery in Seattle that sells Sungro seedling and potting soil blends in lots of varying quantities which I have had lots of success with. They also offer a wide selection of organic fertilizers which I like very much. I’ll be growing lots of new-to-me tubers this year and I’m not looking forward to the pending potting soil/compost purchase that will be required to fill the grow bags. And now I’m concerned about grow bags touching, due to limiting possible virus spread; I’d better add this question to the appropriate discussion to the group. Popping over to the nursery for essentials usually includes bringing home some surprise plants. Often, they’re indoor plants though which I’m completely incapable of keeping alive.

calico20hill

Another fan or mail order that shows up quickly and at a decent price! Living in a rural area it is sure nice to have a source for all things related to growing plants!

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