My earliest blooms ever

Dan - we could use your help with the deer when you're done at home!

Earl did nothing for me last year, no blooms at all, so he never made the cut for this year.

I still have the huge, no ID, lavender from HD last year, waiting to bloom. I won't keep it in total safety next year since, as you said, it's a waste of good space and sunshine.

Michael C. is ending up beautiful, exactly as shown on the site, lots of blooms and around the 4' mark.

Dan - this thread is long, as Mary hinted at so we could use a Part 2.

I noticed that while the posts are around 200 the views is over 800. So I guess others are enjoying the show but don't want to contribute. That's okay. Hopefully they are inspired to grow dahlias (thus earning us the gratitude of the dahlia growers -- if only) and get some tips on what works and what doesn't (or at least what has been tried by each of us for better or worse). While everything else other than a few lilies are defunct I can still look out my window at a plethora of gorgeous flowers, all colors and shapes. Eases the pain of knowing what is coming.

I agree.

We have gardens on all sides of the house, and a few I can't even see from any window, but looking out at the dahlias, from where I'm sitting, is so gorgeous.

When the great majority of plants are getting ready to sleep for the winter, it's so nice to see all the dahlia blooms looking so good.

Speaking of what works and what doesn't -

Do we all remove lower leaves on dahlias? How far up do we go? 2', 3'?

How soon do we all begin tying the stems to the stakes?

Do we add more stakes for errant stems that have either fallen forward, backward or sideward? Or do we just cut them off at the main stem?

Do we remove all but one sprout for each tuber?

My heavens Arlene. Well here goes as to what I do:

I haven't been as good about removing lower leaves but I should as it promotes air flow and slows up the slugs; I bought some gosh awful expensive copper stuff this year (for next year) that you just wrap around the stem to block slugs. As long as no leaves droop to touch the ground or touch another unprotected plant you are safe.

I stake my plants that I know are going to be big when I plant them; drive it in and plant the tuber snug up against it. Then it is easier to tie up drooping branches to the main stake. Even some of the larger 1" thick trunks can list if they have lots of branches full of heavy flowers especially when it rains. Others I just put a cage around.

If I have lots of buds I will consider taking out some branches lower down otherwise I just tie them to the main stake.

I disbud all but one flower on each branch as they grow. That way I am assured of a big healthy bloom; and I continue to pinch out new growth between the branches and the stems to keep energy from going to the plant not to the flowers. If I only have one bloom, as I do on one or two plants now, and want to be sure to see and capture the bloom, I really strip the plant down. Not so much to kill it but to assure energy to the one bloom.

That's my 2-bits. I can set up another thread with urls in each to give the TO and FROM pointers.

We have moved on to here "My Earliest Blooms 2"

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1333434/

I guess the title of this thread is rather out of date but will do until we start Dahlias 2014. A few pics of our first moose of the fall season. Woody wasn't too happy with the visitors in his yard. But I assured him that discretion was the better part of valor.


This message was edited Nov 10, 2013 4:00 PM

Zounds! I'd stay put if I were Woody! They sure do make themselves at home on the lawn!

Still no hard frost here so the dahlias are still in the ground. Now I regret not digging them when we had nicer weather.

Wow!! And I thought I had it bad with our "little" whitetail deer. Last week a neighbor called me early one morning and said there were four does across the street. She asked why no bucks seemed to be around. I told her the "chase" would be starting at any time. Less than a minute later I walked out to the driveway to get the newspaper and saw this nice 10 pointer staring at me from less than 25 feet away. Great timing! I didn't hold his attention very long after he saw the 4 does. He chased them to the intersection and out the next street. The next morning this 6 pointer was laying in the back yard. He seemed to take offense when this other deer got close and swung his head around trying to gore her. The following morning there was a beautiful 8 pointer standing beside the house. I couldn't get my camera in time for a photo. All this time I'm hunting Pennsylvania and seeing nothing but sub-legal 4 and 6 pointers. It's not fair I tell you! lol On a very "sad" note, the kind-hearted deer feeding lady down the street hit a deer with her SUV last week. Just a darned shame! Keep luring them into the neighborhood and you ain't seen nothing, yet.

I should be grateful that the deer sneak in here at night so I don't have to see them and just get to live with their destruction.

That kindly lady could easily have been the victim. People need to wake up and let wild life find their own food but that seems unlikely.

I still think you have the worst of it. At least our moose only appear in the yards in ones and twos and no rampaging males. Damien thought one of the moose might be pregnant. Have to look up the gestation length of moose. I know they birth in the spring. People have been complaining about the bears coming down from the hills. Damien was profoundly disgusted. They are chasing food just like the moose, except the moose ARE their food. So duh.

I can sympathize with your frustration about where the legal deer turn up, except in the wrong place. If you look over at the Water Garden Forum "Ponds 2013" I posted pictures of our fall cleanup. Pushed it a little late. And this morning we have around 3-4" of snow. Whew. Just made it.

This message was edited Nov 11, 2013 7:00 AM

We had a light frost last week. I cut most of the stalks down and plan to dig the tubers next week. I put baggies with rubber bands over the tops of the stumps. I couldn't believe the amount of water that came out of the stalks.

We are having snow right now and they're calling for several inches with highs in the low-30's for the next two days. Thursday through early next week is showing highs back in the low 50's. Sounds like good digging weather.

Even with our deer problems, it could always be worse. My uncle lives in Virginia very close to the Va/Ky/Tn borders. One or more of the states have apparently decided this rural area is a good place to release bears. For what I hear, these are "nuisance" bears that have been live-trapped from parks. (Remember Yogi Bear stealing pic-a-nic baskets? lol) Releasing wild animals into strange new areas always causes problems. One of his neighbors had a bear break into their back porch and turn over a freezer. Another had about three dozen or more potted plants knocked off her porch. When she went outside to investigate, the bear started toward her. She had to beat a fast retreat into the house. My uncle says he has had over a dozen sighting recently. He worries about his young grandkids playing out in the yard. As if the abundant rattlesnakes and copperheads weren't enough to worry about.

Sounds like a good place to avoid. Rattlesnakes and copperheads. Multiple bears. And children play out there? We have not snakes, hardly very large worms.

Sounds much too dangerous to me. The people who made that bad decision should be forced to live adjacent to the area and not 100 miles away.

We're having similar weather to you, Dan, so I'm looking forward to digging this weekend as well.
(Maybe "looking forward to digging" is wrong - looking forward to being done is the truth.)