The following three pics are from the same plant. This is an Aloha dahlia. This first pic was made in August and the next two were made in early October. I don't understand the huge difference in colors but what I find even stranger is that the blooms are not the same form, especially the white ones.
This yellow bloom and several others appeared in early October. A week prior to this, there was a bit of orange mixed in.
The white ones appeared at the same time as the yellow ones on another stem. It looks like a semi-cactus type. I had been bemoaning the fact that I forgot to buy any white dahlias this year but I ended up with a few anyway. LOL I am giving this one to a neighbor and will track it's progress next year.
I had a Blackberry Ripple that had three stems - the one stem produced all solid purple flowers. This is common for variegated blooms, but I think you may have a sport there, a genetic mutation.
I'm used to the dahlias changing colors in fall but that's really a drastic change and to have all those variations on the same plant is remarkable.
pirl, I've had many people look at this plant but none of them know a great about dahlias. Some have suggested that the lighter colors may be caused by the much cooler weather,shorter days or the fact they haven't received any fertilizer in weeks. Personally, I haven't got a clue. Dan
Some go through drastic changes while other lighten just a bit. I'll get photos of Colorado Classic today and show it along with the same plant and the first blossoms to show the difference.
Two years ago Blown Dry went yellow when the cool weather arrived. Here you can see the original version and the cool weather ones:
Wow that is cool how you have those totally different blooms.
HI Pirl - i love that "blown dry" - really pretty. I was reading this and thought " i have to get my tubers out of the ground this weekend".
Hope you are doing good.
All of our dahlias were dug last week with the help of Neri, our 24 year old wonder in the garden, but at this hour he's probably landing back home in Guatemala. He was on Long Island for two years and really missed his gorgeous wife and 2.5 year old son but we hated to see him leave. Yesterday was his last day and I'm still mourning his departure though I couldn't possibly fault him for leaving!
Our dog, Harry, will really miss Neri - they became best buddies.
HI Pirl, i don't know who's cuter, the dog or Neri.
Both adorable. Is he a relative? Or did he work for you personally?
Thanks, Maureen. Neither Neri nor the dog are related to us! We hired Neri to help with the gardens and he turned out to be so fantastic.
HI Arlene, you must really be sad to see Neri go, maybe one day he will come back to the US and you can have him help you again.
I did ask him about returning but he said he wouldn't come back to the USA because he'd never be able to own a house here but it's possible in Guatemala. He also doesn't care for our cold winters since their winters are so mild.
He did love the fall colors of the trees and was amazed at the amount of fallen leaves and neighbors blowing them into piles. It was always fun to see what fascinated him.
