Islander wrote:I hope Twilight Girl will lead the cut flower growers to others that I am working on...Its been a very interesting ride with introducing Salish Twilight Girl. I am surprised how many people don't know how to pronounce Salish. I grew up hearing about "The Salish Sea" habitat, and the Salish People who were here before the Europeans arrived. (But then, I am a cultural anthropologist by college degree... I did check the pronunciation on the internet before I named it just to be sure about it. And yes, it is a long vowel, A as in ailing....
Here’s one I’ve been disappointed with, and I have a question regarding. This is AC QT. All of my blooms this year have been like this - blown center, and not as “Quilled Tightly” as one would hope from the name. (This tuber was from the Portland Dahlia Society online tuber sale, if relevant).
I’m pretty sure it’s the right variety, just not doing great for me. In a case like this, does it make sense to give it a go again next year, or is it most likely to just keep doing the same thing? Sometimes I read people commenting that a variety improved (for whatever reason) the second year grown, but they don’t usually say what improved (vigor? Productivity? Color? Form?)
If that was one I really wanted I would try it at least one more time ...but It certainly would not bring me happiness if it looked like this again. I also might try it from a different source. I have gotten some wonderful dahlias from Portland Dahlia Society sales but I always get s few wonky weaklings too. It is just the price you pay when you can't vet the source.
teddahlia Sep 9, 2022 8:34 AM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
Some varieties do genetically go open center permanently. You need new stock. It is probably just random event caused by some alien with a cosmic ray gun.
edewitt Sep 9, 2022 9:17 AM PDT
Name: Eric DeWitt Mountainair, NM
teddahlia wrote:Noni had Twilight Girl as her first really good dahlia and our first one was HH Electra. It went on to win best large dahlia at a National show and many other awards. Twilight Girl has won in the popularity department where people bid insane amounts of money to buy it when supplies are scarce. Nice picture of Electra!
Well I'm glad I decided to try HH Electra again. I grew it long ago and it bloomed once and was as flat as a pancake and unremarkable as far as the color. I'd never grown a two-dimensional flower before so it made an impression. I managed to get 2 cuttings from the tuber you sent me and it's getting ready to sprout a whole lot of blooms. Now I'm seeing what all the fuss is about with Electra.
blown_dry Sep 9, 2022 12:34 PM PDT
Name: Amanda CA Redwood Coast - Zone 9b DahliaAddict.com
Gorgeous photo of HH Electra. Makes me want to try again.
Thanks for the Salish pronunciation tips. I was thinking it wrong. Salish is still an exonym because that is not what the people call themselves. German is an exonym and Deutsch is an endonym, if I understand the terms correctly. Most folks probably know this, but the Pennsylivania 'Dutch' are actually Deutsch.
teddahlia Sep 9, 2022 12:43 PM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
This is so enigmatic. My xenophobic grandfather used very colorful exonym terms for some of his least favorites. He was Finnish and disliked Russians. I would tell you some of the words but since they were in Finnish and I never learned Finnish...
SteveM Sep 9, 2022 1:23 PM PDT
Name: Steve San Diego Commercial cut flower grower
vitun venäläiset!
edewitt Sep 9, 2022 2:11 PM PDT
Name: Eric DeWitt Mountainair, NM
SteveM wrote:vitun venäläiset!
From the sound of it, that might've been the mildest thing his grandfather could have possibly said.
SteveM Sep 9, 2022 2:45 PM PDT
Name: Steve San Diego Commercial cut flower grower
Ha! Good point, but this is a family forum.
dahlia53 Sep 9, 2022 7:56 PM PDT
Name: Brenda Orcas Island, WA
Dahlias weren't planted til June, due to the wet. I love seeing everyone's pictures and am enamored of some of these. Salish Twilight Girl is beautiful. I lost so many last year in the freeze, but did some trading with a friend who grows over 100 varieties - and of course, bought plenty of new ones. Since I garden for pollinators, I like open centered singles and collarettes, and so do the bumblebees! Here are some of my favorites this year:
L to R, top to bottom: bloomquist jean, day dreamer (warmer and peachier than in the photo), glory daze, american beauty
hollyhill black beauty, kelsey sunshine, sandia candy corn (mellower than this - gorgeous), and Scott's Jeanette B.
There are others I adore; new to me this year are also Labyrinth, Dancing Queen, cafe au lait (though mine is pinker than i would like it to be) and Lillian Stewart. I like the informal decs and laccinateds a lot - but I love them all.
Since I know nothing of show dahlias and grow for fun, pollinators, and cutting for friends, I thought you might like to see some in a bucket after cutting. They bring me so much joy! i also mix them with perennials and annuals, and I love growing gladiolas for the hummingbirds.
I mostly play with the seedlings I have growing. Some of these are 3rd year seedlings now and I will see if Triple Wren wants any of them. . The gold and orange flower that looks a lot like Seabeck's Shirley is actually a seedling in its 4th year for me. It grows really tall and no problem getting a nice 15-18" stem for a bouquet. I call it Salish Glory Be. The name is partly for a dear friend named "Gloria" but partly also for how this one stands up above the others in my garden.Its like a beacon! The purples are probably all different seedlings from Bradley Aaron seedling named Salish Antony. I've really been enjoying the different purples this year. And in case you don't know, the bushy filler in the background is quinoa. It is just coloring up nicely and ready to use now. I only use it in bouquets...I beleive it takes quite a process to mill it into an edible product, but it comes in an amazing collection of tones from blond to a dark strawberry pink.
Emilyp Sep 10, 2022 8:48 AM PDT
Name: Emily Zone 5
KA's Mocha Katie is a stunner from all angles.
SteveM Sep 10, 2022 11:28 AM PDT
Name: Steve San Diego Commercial cut flower grower
Excellent! What size are the blooms and plant?
Emilyp Sep 11, 2022 12:26 PM PDT
Name: Emily Zone 5
The KA's Mocha Katie plants are 3.5 to 4 ft tall with blooms that measure 4-4.5 inches across. They are so pretty and the feel very substantial with nice thick petals.
AndreaB Sep 11, 2022 4:40 PM PDT
Name: Andrea SE Michigan
That’s a pretty one, Emily. Any dahlia with a picotee is a win in my book!
I’d really like to grow KA’s Papa John, but it’ll probably be a year or two before I can get my hands on one of those tubers.
Juliarugula Sep 11, 2022 6:43 PM PDT
Name: Julia NW Indiana
I got a KA Papa John in the Portland Dahlia Society online sale, but it hasn’t bloomed yet. It has several buds, but they’re sort of funny looking in a way that makes me think they won’t bloom well. They’re sort of cone shaped and waxy? Do you know what I mean? I’ve had other plants that have buds like that early on (and the blooms don’t open well) but seem to grow out of it.
I’d love to know if there’s a name for that phenomenon or a known cause, if anyone knows what I’m talking about. Maybe I’ll take a photo tomorrow.
teddahlia Sep 11, 2022 7:35 PM PDT
Name: Ted Oregon We enjoy breeding new dahlias!
The KA's Papa John tubers were harvested from the plants at the Portland trial garden and Kristine Albrecht donated them to the club to sell. The plants at the trial garden were as healthy as any in the entire trial garden.
. The gold and orange flower that looks a lot like Seabeck's Shirley is actually a seedling in its 4th year for me. It grows really tall and no problem getting a nice 15-18" stem for a bouquet. I call it Salish Glory Be. The name is partly for a dear friend named "Gloria" but partly also for how this one stands up above the others in my garden.Its like a beacon! The purples are probably all different seedlings from Bradley Aaron seedling named Salish Antony. I've really been enjoying the different purples this year. And in case you don't know, the bushy filler in the background is quinoa. It is just coloring up nicely and ready to use now. I only use it in bouquets...I beleive it takes quite a process to mill it into an edible product, but it comes in an amazing collection of tones from blond to a dark strawberry pink.
