Name: Amanda CA Redwood Coast - Zone 9b DahliaAddict.com
I love bumblebees!
DarcyD Dec 14, 2021 11:56 AM PDT
Name: Darcy D Green Oaks, Illinois
Paige wrote:
Hollyhill Bashful was probably my favorite this last year. Lovely color and lots of blooms!
Oh that's really beautiful, Paige! Great shot & flower! Ok, it's now on my list.
This was a fun thread to review. I forgot that I started growing so long ago, seems like just a few years.
teddahlia Dec 14, 2021 1:04 PM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
I liked the picture of Bashful so much that I saved it. I am happy to report that it is a good tuber maker and that I believe I will be able to sell it. I like Pollyanna almost as much and it grows a bit taller. The best FDs in our garden were probably the UK flowers Blyton Stella and my favorite Dikara Superb and the unreleased seedling from Allen Manuel and always HH Regal and Rudolph and some others as I am forgetting some as I write this.
This is a picture of either Allen's seedling or Blyton Stella as they look a lot alike. .
I seem to have trouble keeping HH Rudolph going in my garden. Does anyone else keep it going without problems? I don't remember how its tuber productions was...I don't think it had many. I've been struggling to get it and KEEP it in my garden since the first year I had it when it was such a show off!
teddahlia Dec 14, 2021 2:46 PM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
Rudolph is an average tuber maker but they have weak necks and you need to harvest them carefully. It is one of those that every third clump is huge but the other two are a bit scrawny. The huge clump yields lots of tubers. I always have lots of it because I plant it all over the place as I like it so much. Once you get to "critical mass" with it, it will be hard to lose.
Oh good to know! I probably only had 2 plants this year and they were the weak ones...I may need to order more tubers to get # 3 in there. I would love it if this one became a permanent member of my garden...I think I have planted it in every poor spot in my gardens...I'll look for a spot where it can flourish and gain strength. I better check my tuber harvest and see if I managed to save any from our strange growing year....
DarcyD Dec 14, 2021 4:54 PM PDT
Name: Darcy D Green Oaks, Illinois
Cosey wrote:
My one allowed emotional seedling save. I took way too many photos of this plant throughout the season to let it rot. It always had the curly center petals. So blasphemous! The heart wants what the heart wants.
Yaaas!! Totally allowed (close your eyes Ted!). I love this sweet girl, open center, frills and all
teddahlia Dec 16, 2021 12:59 PM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
Josudi Neptune and for some reason I like this flower and this picture.
addicted Dec 16, 2021 6:57 PM PDT
Name: Em NY
That's a lovely one Ted!
AndreaB Dec 16, 2021 7:46 PM PDT
Name: Andrea SE Michigan
I agree, that’s pretty. HH Starburst colors.
teddahlia Dec 17, 2021 9:25 AM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
I am working on a trade to get this one back.
honnat Dec 17, 2021 9:50 AM PDT
St. Paul, MN
teddahlia wrote:Rudolph is an average tuber maker but they have weak necks and you need to harvest them carefully. It is one of those that every third clump is huge but the other two are a bit scrawny. The huge clump yields lots of tubers. I always have lots of it because I plant it all over the place as I like it so much. Once you get to "critical mass" with it, it will be hard to lose.
I remember that is why I lost it. I'd dig up this big clump and see tubers dangling around and broken. It really is worth the trouble though if you need a small red.
dcmarge Dec 17, 2021 10:18 AM PDT
Name: Margo Battle Ground, WA
Ted, Hollyhill Calico is so lovely and I hope your trade works out. I tried growing it this year but it got shaded out by a larger plant and I didn’t get to see it bloom, much to my dismay.
This might be one to try growing in a very large pot. I could put in 3 small clumps and have quite a display..hoping that one of those. would be the one that goes nuts....then just empty them out of the pot by tipping them out and sorting among the dirt for the clump. I had a Karma Choc plant that inadvertently got left in the pot last winter do just great over the winter and come roaring back this summer....
teddahlia Dec 17, 2021 1:50 PM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
How to grow dahlias that are prone to broken necks:
(1)At a Federation seminar, the presenter talked about his method to grow Hamari Accord tubers. Very simple as you grow the tuber in a "cylinder" that is a gallon plastic pot with the bottom removed. The fat tubers with extremely skinny necks are forced downwards as they grow and are supported by the cylinder when you dig them.
(2) Extreme care when you dig them. Remove the dirt carefully from the top of the clump. Some people use a garden hose to remove the dirt and return to harvest later. The next step is to remove the top tubers with their eyes while the plant is still in the ground. Some people carefully use a sharp shovel to sever the ends of the long skinny tubers before they dig.
(3) Grow lots of the offending variety and not worry about the broken necks as 20% or so will make it though the digging process.
honnat Dec 19, 2021 10:57 PM PDT
St. Paul, MN
teddahlia wrote:How to grow dahlias that are prone to broken necks:
(1)At a Federation seminar, the presenter talked about his method to grow Hamari Accord tubers. Very simple as you grow the tuber in a "cylinder" that is a gallon plastic pot with the bottom removed. The fat tubers with extremely skinny necks are forced downwards as they grow and are supported by the cylinder when you dig them.
(2) Extreme care when you dig them. Remove the dirt carefully from the top of the clump. Some people use a garden hose to remove the dirt and return to harvest later. The next step is to remove the top tubers with their eyes while the plant is still in the ground. Some people carefully use a sharp shovel to sever the ends of the long skinny tubers before they dig.
(3) Grow lots of the offending variety and not worry about the broken necks as 20% or so will make it though the digging process.
I may need to try this. One of my current favorites is Skipley Smiles. I can average about 1.2 tubers per clump that survive. Long and skinny tubers that break even in my sandy soil. I may try the pot method next year.
teddahlia Dec 25, 2021 11:21 AM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
Margaret filled the hummingbird feeder yesterday. Fake hummingbird in picture as somehow I cannot seem to get them to pose.
teddahlia Jan 4, 2022 1:36 PM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
I miss having a bouquet of dahlias on the kitchen table. About all that is on there now are a few oranges and some Fuji apples surrounded by couple of greenish bananas.
Cosey Jan 4, 2022 2:14 PM PDT
Name: LeeAnn Zone 6b, Pennsylvania
My table is filled with Legos and coloring books and glitter from yesterday's slime making adventures.
This was one of the last arrangements I made for myself this summer. All seedlings with my favorite purple front and center.
teddahlia Jan 4, 2022 4:36 PM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
Color is subjective near the border with another color. Purple and lavender are related colors and I see lavender in the picture. Perhaps before I got into dahlias I might have said something like "light purple" as most non flower people do not admit lavender is a color. "Originally, the name lavender only applied to flowers." is a quote. from the history of the word lavender. "A rose by any other name is still a rose" and in this case a purple dahlia may be a lavender dahlia and still be a very nice dahlia.
