Any Dahlia lovers here?

Butterfly on pink dahlia

Great photo! I love dahlias.

I save my tubers over every winter, but it seems that I lose more than I manage to keep viable.

I LOVE dahlia!!! I will be buying more next year and I've been scoping out some dahlia-specialty sites online. Also, glads.

I've had one dahlia for 4 years now and never dug it. I put in more this year and have dug those. I think the one is in a really good protected location.

Here's the one that is hardy each year for me......Procyon

This one is Caribbean Fantasy. I really like it!

And these are Bishop of Lladaff. Very dark, burgundy-black foliage on these!

I'm a Dahlia lover as well, but only have tubers for four or five different kinds. Can't wait to plant them and watch them grow. What are some good dahlia-specialty sites?

Great photos langbr! Your dahlias are amazing. And one comes back for you every year? Did you leave it out accidentally at first? They are all so pretty.

Joan, how do you store yours? I always loose a few, the small ones, but most seem to live to flower again. Thanks for the compliment. ;)

emily I don't know of many but here is a link for Swan Island Dahlias.

http://www.dahlias.com/

Cindy

Here's a couple of I've been looking at....

http://www.cruger.com/pkdahlia.html
http://www.cruger.com/cdp2.html
http://www.cruger.com/gvd2.html
http://www.almanddahliagardens.com/

And this is where I started from and have been going through the listed sites little by little.
http://dahlias.net/supplierlst.htm

I store mine in a box of sand, in the crawl space of our house, and just sprinkle some water on them once in awhile during the winter. How do you store yours?

At work, we cure them on an unheated greenhouse bench, remove excess soil, and pack them in cardboard boxes filled with sawdust. We keep them in an unheated basement. We only store large dahlias.

At home, I wrap mine in newspaper and store in cardboard boxes- and I store large and smaller (gallery) dahlias. we have high humidity in the area, so I avoid plastic or any moisture retaining material- I have to keep them dry but can't let them dry up.
Both ways work pretty well.

Is PEAT a bad thing to store them in???? Gosh I hope not.....I'll have to repack them if it is.

At least you have them packed in something. I just have mine sitting in paper grocery bags--I bought them not too long ago. Is sawdust the best thing to pack them in?

How about this cool dahlia! 10-02-04 in my yard

This was taken on 8-28-04

Do you have a name for that one, Steve. I'm looking for some blends/bi-colors to add next year.

Brenda,

I think it's "Jersey's Beauty" from Old House Gardens. They're awesome...you should check their site out.

Old House is a favorite for lilies for me! I did get their Spring catalog and thumbed through it once. Still have to spend the winter dog-earring the pages! lol

I think peat is fine, as long as it's dry and loose. I don't think sawdust is the best way, it is just one way that works. I feel that if you can use material that is readily available, and it works for you, than that's all that matters.

Steve, your pictures are beautiful. Are they both the same Dahlia?

Langbr,
I love Carribean Fantasy! Are all the blooms "half and half" color? or does it vary? Either way it's gorgeous. Thanks for all the Dahlia links.

oceangirl - actually Carribean Fantasy is a blend but changes colors as it ages. The redder side gets a bit more sun I think in that position.

This message was edited Nov 11, 2004 8:23 PM

Thanks oceangirl :-) Actually I think they might be. I ordered about eight varieties but I did not tag them, and I had three or four of each, so I think they are. I only ordered a couple of pink varieties.

I got my first dahlia this spring when I bought some plants (no names) from a coworker's son as a fund raising project for his elementary school. I was so impressed they are now tops on my list of wants for 2005! Here's a picture of my first one.

everyones dahlias are gorgeous.....i had beautiful ones in ny in my other house....the idiots that bought my house dug them all up and threw them away.....

i want to start a dahlia garden here in my new home in florida....they are so pretty and easy to take care of......

thanks everyone for sharin your pics.....

luv ya cindy

I finished digging the rest of my tubers yesterday. We had a hard freeze night before last and so the foliage finally was done. I was amazed at the size of some of these.

What's everyone's favorite type of dahlia? I really like the Large Decoratives, Peony and Collarette types.

i love them all.....lol...no favs here..they are all my favs......

I love the large decorative types too. I don't have many, but I'm collecting them for next year. I want to divide the ones I have and trade them in spring, but I need some more good ones. I love the dark purple, and deep red, and oranges. I love all the colors! They make great cut flowers.

How do you stake your taller dahlias? Just curious about everyone's methods.

And how do you feed them?

Here is an unnamed peach dahlia of mine.

I have some of the smaller ones that don't need staking, but my Procyon does and I use a cut-down tomato cage that I put over the emerging shoots early in the season. It grows through it and hides the cage pretty well.

That's a good idea- a tomato cage. They would be good for lots of other plants, too.

What do you store your tubers in? I have a bunch of dahlia tubers and the folks down at Pdx nursery suggested taking a box and putting compost in it, and then adding the tubers. Any thoughts?

I'm using peat. Joan said she uses sand and Oceangirl said they use sawdust where she works.

I was going to ask about staking too. I do the whole tomato cage/pole thing, but I find that the individual blooms are too heavy and they drop down and break the stem. Do you have to tie up every single bloom? It looks ridiculous when i do this.

I've not had that problem with my one (Procyon) that I use the tomato cage for. Maybe I'm lucky or my blooms might be smaller than yours....mine are about 4-5" across.

l love dahlia's, planted 400 tubers this spring. matchmaker is one of my favorite.

here's a picture of one my gardens with dahlia's

Belinda - we sure do have similiar tastes, don't we? What's the name of the one to the left of the bench? The big yellow one? Loaded with blooms---beautiful as always!

unknown dahlia.

oh, how pretty-
400 Tubers! It looks like you have all sizes. And the unknown one is so delicate. I love how it has a lavender center.
About staking- I think it's tough to stake individual blooms, like you said.
I have an episode of Gardener's Diary recorded where they have a dahlia grower on, he said he gives them something to strengthen the stems- either potassium or phosphate I will watch it again (this old memory is slipping) and let you know. he says the stems can't hold the flowers up unless he gives them the supplemental feeding. He also grows them from seed and gets lots of new colors, which I'm dying to try!
I use 1 X 1 stakes in a square about 18 in apart and levels of string. Some people use rebar, I'd like to try that.

Edited to say the gardener is Brian Killingsworth and he say to use 2 applications of potassium a week apart and you can actually feel the stems stiffen up. Timing would probably be when the first buds form but he didn't say.


This message was edited Nov 16, 2004 6:43 AM

brenda, we sure do have about the same taste. here's a close-up. it's white, i am not sure of the name, it is snow------. belinda

oceangirl, thank you so much!!! I knew I had to be missing something. Now they will be nothing but a total joy next year. :)

Now I'll have to remember that potassium trick next year. Good tip! thanks.

oceangirl. where would a person find potassium? i will have to try it next year.