Tree Dahlia (Dahlia imperialis)

I am growing this plant for the first time this year. I am hopeing that it will come back after a freeze. I was told it would...so we'll see. It is now Sept, and now about 8' tall but no sign of flowers yet, hope it makes it before frost, which won't be until Dec around here, hopefully. Beautiful plant, and has been fun to watch grow, just to see what it is going to do !!

Afternoon dayflower -

I too am hoping for good results with this plant. I bought it at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden plant sale in Feb or so. We rarely get frost so I've got my fingers crossed that it blooms for me. It certainly is a BIG one and I probably need to move it for next year.....I read up on it when it hit the 3' mark and only then realized that it could be HUGE.

Here's the link to the image of the whole plant:
http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/25856/

Hello,Happenstance,dayflower,

It's about time for the bads to bloom (^o^)�^
I've been planting this huge stuff for three years.
I have found it extraordinarily thirilling.

I am still waiting......it better do something LOL!

It takes up a LOT of space just being green and it better do something soon to earn its keep.

I've trimmed up the bottom of all the stalks to keep it from getting too messy and ratty looking. It is about 9feet tall (started in the spring as an 8" cutting).

I also have Dahlia tenuicaulis which was started much later from a tiny 4" pot. It also shows no signs of flowering and is much more refined in leaf texture and size of the plant in general.

Happenstance,

that's all hugeness with lots of stalks, isn't it?
My photo was taken the year before last.
This year it's like this at the moment.
One is now 4m50m tall and the other is about 3m50.
It is not easy to prop them up so I tie up one to the apricot tree and fix the other to a part of the house.
Typhoons often damage them.

This crop usually starts to bloom around November 10 here.It growth is recorded at:
http://homepage1.nifty.com/heartsease/dahlia/dahlia.imperialis8.htm

I think there'll be no problem with its wintering in zone 9b.
After flowering I cut some stalks and make new plants from the cuttings indoors during the winter.

The Dahlia starts to bloom.

Hi Tomtom -

I just went out and checked.....I have BUDS!! Still very tiny, but they are there at least. Climbed on the ladder to get this picture.

Your flowers are beautiful!

I also checked my Tree Dahlia (Dahlia tenuicaulis)
http://plantsdatabase.com/t/399028/ and it is budding also.

Hi,Happenstance,

Wow�I�@�_(^o^)�^
So glad to hear and see that your Dahlia has BUDS�@finally.
In about ten days time you'll sure be thrilled to find them blooming.

Hoping they both'll bloom before the cold spell comes.
Good luck �I!

So now it is December......despite two terrific wind storms the buds are hanging on. The foliage on the lower portion of the plant looks pretty beaten up, but I am still holding out hope that I will see blooms sometime soon.

The buds have begun to swell, this image shows the buds at about the 10foot level.

Happenstance,luckily for you the storms didn't do serious damage to the dahlia buds.
Your buds do look ready to bloom.
I cut down my dahlias on Dec.14 and am now making cuttings.

The dahlia became the talk of our gardening community this year.
It'll be more popular here next year.

I'm sure you'll have the good luck to see your dahlia bloom before the cold season comes.

Update - 9 days later some additional information on my Dahlia imperialis.

Despite temperatures hovering at 40F for the last couple of weeks we are still frost free and the buds have continued to develop. Several strong Pacific/Alaskan storms have battered the San Francisco Bay Area for the last several days. Heavy monsoon type rains and winds clocked at 60+mph yesterday.

The plant is basically denuded of foliage up to about the 8foot level, but the newer leaves and the buds have been hanging on for dear life. After all this time, it truly was worth the wait for even a few flowers.

Turns out this is a double or semi-double white form, not the standard single pink. I bought it at a UC Berkeley Botanical Garden sale and should have known it would be something special. Still many more buds to open, although most of them are out of camera reach over the roof of the greenhouse.

Here are a couple of images of the flowers.

And a closeup of a bud just starting to open.

Wow,was it worth the wait, Happenstance!
Congratualatios!!

You must have felt uneasy a number of times,during the strong storms and low temperatures.
And such special flowers---not merely special,but Special!
I've never seen a double or semi-double. Such a treat!
I think I'm so lucky and wish I'd be able to grow it someday.

Thank you very much for sharing the priceless, in-depth life report . I've also been sometimes uneasy and sometimes relieved ,like you, at your Dahlia buds.

Wishing you a floriferous new year!

Tomtom

After a weekend of storms with strong 70+mph winds, this is one NAKED plant. The flowers and the newer foliage is still looking good despite 4inches of rain and our first frost in several years. It is hard to see the flowers in this photo, but they are still there and the buds seem to be holding up.

I have decided to wait to take cuttings until all the buds open or disappear. I'll have to do some reading and will have some cuttings to share if I can figure out how to do it. Tomtom I would love to send you some cuttings, but don't know what the restrictions might be?

Their season is ended here and they are cut down.
Their roots are now covered with soil and leaf mold for wintering. In my climate this is enough for them to survive winter.

I'm more than happy, Happenstance, to hear that you'd love to send me some cuttings,but the restrictions on the incoming live plants are strict in this country.
Thank you all the same.

How marvelous it would be if your Dahlias bloom earlier and you can enjoy the flowers a lot longer next year!

The deed is done! I cut it down today, have made cuttings and am hoping for the best. In another month or so I'll post about cuttings for postage if I get lucky and they root.

Here's a composite photo of the tree dahlia before and after the surgery.

1. Notice how little foliage there is due to heavy winter winds.
2.The last two bunches of blooms (there were 5 total).
3. It already has new growth coming on.
4. The cuttings, used a cactus type loose mix for one set and more peat/compost for the other set.
5. Brought the blooms in to live in the fountain in the sunroom...who knows maybe they'll root. :-)

3 months after being cut down my tree dahlia is on it's way back. Many of the cuttings made it and are growing around the garden, but much more slowly than the mother plant.

I planted this here last year and now it is about 6 inches high in my greenhouse. From reading your