Dahlias Summer 2015

That last one looks like a peppermint Dan...Lol

I hear you on the rain. We got ourselves in a dead zone yesterday and only got .84". This may sound like a lot to you but points a county west of us got 3"+. The 10 day forecast this morning has nothing but sun. I was actually watering an area last night during the rain...Lol

A few new blooms. I don't know why so many are smaller than normal. Some are much smaller. The first bloom on Trooper Dan was 8". I didn't get a photo because the beetles were in love with it. Since then, every bloom has been 4-5". The blooms in the last three photos are waaay undersized.

I watered early this morning. The good news is I didn't see a single JB. Maybe they're just late sleepers. I'll be overjoyed when I know they're gone. The bad news is the lack of rain. Except for a slight chance Monday, there's none in the forecast for at least a week. That does have one positive benefit though. I was in the woods all day yesterday and the mosquitos were few and far between. I didn't have to use any repellent at all.

1) Lilac Time
2) Bella S.
3) Brookside Cheri
4) Color Magic
5) Trooper Dan

A few more new ones and a repeat. The photo of Candlelite in the catalog reached out and "grabbed" me. I don't normally grow the smaller dahlias but I loved the bright yellow and red colors. Problem is, this one has very little of the red. Still a pretty little bloom and a reminder not to be swayed by catalog photos. lol

1) Juanita
2) Janal Amy. Not fully opened.
3) Candlelite
4) Lady Darlene. Starting to turn to the golden yellow color.

Trelyn Rhiannon. The first photo is a bloom from over a week ago. Every bloom was mis-shaped and ugly. I thought the plant might have a virus and considered cutting it down. Looking at the blooms the past few days makes me feel that maybe it's okay after all. Maybe it was the heat. The plant is in a bit more shade than most of the others and that may account for the red not being as bright as normal.

Great pictures as usual, Dan. I like them, all but I really like Candlelite, I don't have any that shape...yet. lol

Thanks Nanny. I'm hoping that Candlelite will eventually turn into the colors like the photo in K Connell's catalog. Swan Island sells a different dahlia with the same name but they spell it Candlelight. I can see where that could be a little confusing.

Our Monday rain which became our Tuesday rain is now our Sunday night rain. It's 70% tonight, 30% tomorrow morning and 50% Tuesday. Before watering again tomorrow, I will use the window forecast. I'll look out the window to see if it is raining or has been. That's the only reliable forecast method I know of.

I recently read a couple articles that said dahlia blooms, especially the larger varieties, need much more water than most gardeners think. I normally water every third day. Since so many of my blooms are much smaller than normal, I plan to water every other day to see if they improve. I read one post where someone said they water every day. That sounds like a lot but it would depend on how much water each day and the soil type. When I water, I make sure it's a good soaking. Still, maybe mine need more.

That candle light is a pretty color yellowish green. My dahlias are slackin' with most not blooming now. There are a bunch of buds though. I have a couple buds that I think are rotting as they have a little black in them. I'm not sure what's going on there.

So I think something is harming my dahlia buds and destroying them. That might be why it seems like they are really slow on blooms. It's almost as if they are partially rotten inside. What do you think?

Jeff, are those buds from more than one plant? Do all the buds on any one particular plant look like that? I've seen that on some of mine in the past but it was only one here and there. I just broke them off in case it might spread. I hope that isn't a virus. Is there a county extension service near you? They could probably help diagnose the problem. There's one near me and they're extremely helpful. Wish I could be of more help. Hopefully, someone will see this and chime in.

I just googled "dahlia buds rotting" and there are many sites that mention several causes. They might give you an idea of what to look for. One mentioned a tiny bug called thrips, which eat their way in from the bottom of the bud. Another mentioned a fungus caused by watering late in the evening and the plant staying too damp, especially in soil that doesn't drain well. I wish you the best. Let us know what you find.

Jeff , I have not experienced that problem. Knock on wood! Sorry you are having to deal with it. I sure hope you find the solution to take care of it. How frustrating!

Those buds are from multiple plants. I'll have to do some Googling I guess. I'm not sure if there's an ext. office nearby.

These blooms are from the past two days. I'm having issues trying to export photos to my photo file. The biggest issue is that I don't know what I'm doing. lol I hope these will show up.

1) Otto's Thrill. I was beginning to think Otto would be a "no-show."
2) LaLuna. This one is from Mary in Alaska. Should get bigger and more yellow.
3) Mick's Peppermint. Can't believe this shriveled tuber survived and bloomed.
4) Wanda's Capella. Please pretend you don't see the JB damage. lol
5) Hollyhill 6-in-1. Finally a mostly yellow one.

A few more.

1) Gitt's Perfection. Where's the pink coloring?
2) Bonaventure. Getting bigger every day.
3) ?? Tag says AC Paint. Not unless it's a "sport."
4) ?? Ugly, mis-labeled and mis-shaped with two buds growing together. Might be Emory Paul.

Almost forgot one. This is Survivor and it lives up to it's name. The tuber was badly shriveled and took forever to sprout. It lagged behind the others growing in the planters so I planted it in the very back of the bed to "hide." it. After I planted it, a deer stepped on it and bent it over. Luckily, the stalk wasn't broken. I propped it up between three short stakes and still can't believe it grew and bloomed. It truly is a survivor. It's a much darker color than the photo shows.

Awesome blooms Dan!

Lost the phone and internet Saturday. Phone was back Sunday but internet is only back today. Centurylink had major problems and were terrible on the service end. I will have to check on other internet providers in my area.

It has been about 10-20 degrees below normal but supposed to get into the upper 70's by Friday. We had lows in the upper 50's. My dahlias are looking great. Still a few that haven't bloomed but all have buds.

Got a new bloom Fluerel , Seattle has really come alive. Thomas Edison finally got his act together and started blooming

Great blooms, Nanny! Fleurel is fast becoming a favorite of mine. It never seems to run out of steam for producing lots of nice big blooms. Usually has strong stems too. I grew Seattle for years and it's a beauty. For whatever reason, I've never had TE, although I love the color. When I was looking for a purple dahlia this spring, I completely overlooked that one.

We've had rain off and on since last night. Most of the showers have been a light mist but we've had a couple nice steady rains. Thunderstorms are better than nothing but this is the type of rain I've waited all summer for. There was a good shower a little while ago and there's still a 50% chance of more tonight and tomorrow morning. The temp is down to 58. Everywhere I went today, I saw people bundled up like it was winter. lol I'll gladly take weather like this over the hot muggy stuff anytime.

Fluerel is quite pretty!

I called the ext office yesterday but didn't have time to get cuttings of my dahlias to give them today. I'll have to do that tonight. The ext office is 5 mins from work to I'll take them there instead of the one at home.

Good move, Jeff. I've been to the local ext. office several times. Very knowledgeable people. Years ago when I first started gardening, the bottom my first tomatoes looked like dried leather. I went to the ext. office and the lady there diagnosed my problem as blossom end rot before I had even finished telling her the symptoms. I hope they can help you.

Wow! Yeah I hope so too. We put all this work into these things, they better bloom! Dahlias are so much more work than other plants so hopefully they can figure it out.

Good luck Jeff! Hope the Ext office can help.

The past couple days of showers seems to have perked things up. Not much in the way of new blooms but some seem to grow inches per day. These are mostly repeats that are filling out nicely.

1) Ivory Palaces. First bloom this year.
2) Janal Amy
3) Ben Huston This is my second BH. I think I have one more.
4) Lady Darlene
5) Bonaventure with a friend.

A few more repeats.

1) Color Magic
2) Pablo
3) Elsie Huston
4) Vassio Meggos
5) Bella S

All great Dan but I like Lady Darlene best.

Thanks, Jeff. Someone once told me that I would be amazed by the changes in Lady Darlene during the season. And they were right! These are from last year, from early August to October. Quite a difference.

Wow, what a unique show. All the stages are pretty.

Wow that is amazing. Lady Darlene has multiple personalities, lol. Very pretty.

Yikes, wouldn't want to be her husband...LOL

Most women I know(Including myself) have a few different personalities(at least) lol...Just sayin.

Haha!


So I took a bunch of dahlia buds to the ext office and they could only say there were no insects in them. One of the master gardeners was going to Lancaster today though and said she was going to show them to a guy who specializes in dahlias. I guess if he doesn't know then they'll send them to PSU for testing.

I gave the dahlias a really good soaking early yesterday. Then around midnight, a big t'storm rolled through. It was a real gully washer for a while. With all this water, the plants should be okay for a while. The rain did bend some of the stems on a few bigger blooms.

The ones below have opened up a lot since Friday.

1) Trelyn Rhianon. The red has really brightened in the past week.
2) Pinelands Princess
3) Homer T
4) Color Spectacle. I hope it get the white tips like the photo on the package.
5) ?? This one is over 8" wide. Wish I knew the name or where it came from.

Trelyn looks pretty awesome.

To update on my dahlia situation: The ext office called me back later in the day last Thursday as some big wig gardener from PSU came down to their office and they showed him my buds. He said my problem has been caused by lack of water. It makes sense, we're in a drought and I have tried to err on the side of less water rather than over watering and getting rotted tubers. I will have to give them much more water than I've been if I want them to bloom heavy.

Good to hear that the problem is correctable! I know you must be relieved to find out it isn't some dreaded Dahlia blight. We had plenty of water when the Dahlias were growing in the Spring and early summer. Could be why some of them are so tall! Much more so than last year.

Yeah I was pretty glad to hear that for sure. I watered all of them really good Thursday night and will probably do the same on Tuesday. It's nice with my dahlias being in sunken pots because then I don't get any run off and can water only the pot. I'm really liking my idea so far.

Great news, Jeff! It's always good to hear that a problem is fixable. It's much better and easier to add more water than some sort of chemical in the event it had been a more serious problem. Dahlias need more water than we sometimes think. I don't water mine as often as some people, but when I do, they get a deep, deep soaking. Especially during the warmer weather.

Yeah I guess I was all hepped up about not rotting them that I didn't realize they needed extra water. They said that dahlias need extra water to produce all those nice blooms. It makes sense to me. I also gave them a little Miracle Gro for a little boost. Going forward it will be water only.

I still haven't posted a pic of my volunteer. It is a pretty white single though. I'll try to post it in the next few days. The plant is 4' tall!

Jeff what size pots are your dahlias in? I am curious to know how well that works for you. I had considered trying that, to make lifting the tubers easier, but wasn't sure if they would have enough room to grow.

The new dahlias I bought from Swan Island are all in 3 gallon pots. All the ones from last season are in 5 gallon pots and one is in a 7 gallon pot. I hope it works, we'll see. I figure the tubers will push the pots out if they are too small. I'll probably have to get more 5 gallon pots for next year.