That is very pretty, Ted. Do you suppose you could get a seedling in that color with a tighter center? I would like something like that in my garden...sometimes a bouquet just needs cream to set it off. I especially like a mix of creams and pinks for myself...
Cosey Jan 28, 2021 4:36 PM PDT
Name: LeeAnn Zone 6b, Pennsylvania
Is this a dahlia that can be picked at 50% open and still open in the vase?
If so, it would still have cut flower value. Most farmers prefer to cut slightly immature and condition in a cooler before sale.
teddahlia Jan 28, 2021 6:18 PM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
First year seedlings do not even get cut most of the time so that is total unknown. Swan Island sells Clearview Jonas as a 60% open flower and the buds are gorgeous. I did not recognize it in the wholesale florist cooler.
AndreaB Jan 29, 2021 6:00 PM PDT
Name: Andrea SE Michigan
teddahlia wrote:
We have been growing this cream colored waterlily since it was seedling in 2017. Margaret and I both do not feel that it has a tight enough center to be sold and we were worried about tuber production too. Meanwhile, we used it as a seed parent and the seedlings are wonderful. We have plenty of tubers to plant this year and who knows, if it looks good in the garden(it did look good in 2020) there is a chance we may sell it. In any case, we will continue to grow it to get the nice seedlings.
I love this one and would buy it in a heartbeat.
Besides, wouldn't you consider this to be in the “modern†color palette?
Cosey Jan 29, 2021 7:03 PM PDT
Name: LeeAnn Zone 6b, Pennsylvania
Just found this on my camera roll. Cameo Peach. She bloomed lavender at first then pink later in the season. She constantly changed her colors.
teddahlia Jan 29, 2021 7:07 PM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
There were three nice seedlings from the 2017 seedling above. This is one of them. It will have a better chance of being sold as I asked Margaret about the 2017 seedling and she will not sell it saying the center is too weak. It is not too weak to give us nice seedlings.
teddahlia Jan 29, 2021 7:13 PM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
Cameo Peach was bred by Swan Island and I have probably seen it there several times. I bet I took a picture of it on that day when spent a couple hours cruising their fields and taking pictures. I never did much with the pictures as they were not taken with care. Your picture looks nice.
addicted Jan 30, 2021 9:11 PM PDT
Name: Em NY
Love the yellow, Ted. I'd buy it just for the color alone, never mind the center.
teddahlia Feb 4, 2021 11:47 AM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
Blast from the past!
Margaret standing in front of her entry Hollyhill Margarita at the Tacoma Trial Garden in 2009.
I see she dressed to match it...of ocurse she did! Makes me homesick for Tacoma Trial Garden...
teddahlia Feb 5, 2021 10:49 AM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
Extinct: Hollyhill Pagoda from 2008
Cosey Feb 5, 2021 11:23 AM PDT
Name: LeeAnn Zone 6b, Pennsylvania
Ted- how do you feel about your varieties going extinct?
Is it just a cause and effect circumstance? I know you can't keep them all.
Is there one you wish you could get back?
teddahlia Feb 5, 2021 12:26 PM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
Is it just a cause and effect circumstance?
Pagoda was unwisely a "private flower" that Margaret would not sell. When you are the only one growing a variety the odds are not with you especially in the long run.
My list of "Lost Angels is too long and too painful to list. Most were lost as seedlings. Going from year 1 to year 2 is the most hazardous but two of the best were lost going from year 2 to year 3. Give some stock to a trusted friend. In the beginning of our breeding, we stupidly tossed out wonderful seedlings. An orange ball was one. In all our years of breeding, we have never introduced a ball dahlia. We have had some almost good ones and even in 2019 there was a ball that looked really good if you do not mind an ugly green center.
Cosey Feb 5, 2021 2:23 PM PDT
Name: LeeAnn Zone 6b, Pennsylvania
Green centered dahlias? I've seen worse things at a grocery store. 😂
I'll take a pink bloom with a green center. I think that could be popular.
