Dahlia photos

Not mine. A friend's. They're posted on another thread but I'm moving some over here. I've never been to this forum before. It's nice.

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

Very nice pictures even tho they aren't your's. lol
If you don't have your own dahlias, you need to get some! lol
Yes, the Dahlia Forum is a very pretty place to look at the flowers. My favorite place to be, hehe.
Carol

The photos are mine. The dahlias aren't. But she offered me some bulbs. I don't know. I took a peek at the first thread in this forum and it sounds like dahlias are a lot of work. Maybe it should wait till I retire. (in a couple of years, I hope)

Very pretty photos, Nap.

thank you

Yes, dahlias are work, but for what the plants give you back, I think they are worth it totally.
No other plant would give you so much color, green foliage, flowers for bouquets, and bloom for so long in the summer/fall time.
Carol

You sure know how to sweet talk.....

Yep, that is me and my dahlias.
Just ask a few people here, like Lenjo and Poochella. They know I am crazy over dahlias, lol.
They even grow in pots too. Not the best thing for them, but I do it all the time when I don't have a space in the ground for them and hate to throw any tubers away.
Carol

Now dahlias in pots - that is something I could get into!

If I pot them and store them in my attached garage over the winter, like I do all my other potted flowers, what are the odds they will grow? Everything else I've done it with works out fine.

Mind you, I live in Buffalo where we have winter lows at night of well below freezing.

This message was edited Oct 17, 2005 8:46 PM

Welcome to the dahlia forum, nap. Be prepared to become addicted! Your photos are beautiful. I especially like #2 and #5. Do you know the names of the dahlias in the pictures? The dahlia in #4 looks similar to one I have been trying to identify - another member has suggested that it is 'Tui Avis' and I think they are right.

Don't let all of our talk scare you out of growing these beauties. The most work that you have to do is stake them. You really don't have to bother digging up tubers and wintering them over. Just let them rot and replace them with new ones the following spring if you don't want to mess around with storing them. That way you can keep trying new varieties in a limited space. LOL

If you like to make bouquets, dahlias are just wonderful. Pretty soon you will wonder how you lived without them.

Ah, gee, Candy, another nice pic of the yummy dahlias getting ready for their vases!
Yep, she is right. Do what she says.
They actually take less fertilizer than other flowers, I think. So staking is the most real work which I will say, I hate to stake. And I end up later regretting it because they have grown downward or broken off. BUT this next season, I am going to put a stake by each tuber this time. Am searching for free rebar to do this with.
You can put the pots in the garage but the tubers can't freeze. Cut the foliage off after it dies. Just don't water them at all and they will grow new eyes in the spring.
Carol

Well, now you're making it sound a lot easier. And that huge bouquet is gorgeous! I did notice that the pink spiky one looks lot like the one posted for ID. I'll have to ask the owner what they are. I'm starting to get excited about this. But it's October. Let's see what hsappens in the Spring.

I just wish I had more room to expand. I may have to buy the house next door!

And for the record, my favorite of these is the first one. It reminds me of swirled buttercream frosting.

I can tell that you have all the makings of a dahlia addict. LOL But don't go to the expense of buying the house next door. Just rip out all of your lawn (no more mowing, save on gas, fertilizer, weedkillers, weedeaters, etc.) and use all the money you save to buy more dahlias and stakes. That's what Poochella does. =^)

Welcome Nap! Beautiful pictures. Can I guess on ID's?
#1 might be Cafe Au Lait- the buttercream description was right on target and I think I see a hint of pink in the petals so that's my guess.
# 3 could be Hawaii, and I'm near certain #5 is Hawaii too.
#6 might be Kelvin Floodlight, if it's huge, but hard to say. I thought I lost my Kelvin floodlight to rot early in the season, but the other day I saw a lone yellow bud on a plant I was sure would be something different ( It was a last ditch effort to fill in rotted tuber spots with mystery tubers salvaged from last year's 'garbage pile' where I do my cleaning and division. Many of them sat there under the eaves all winter, all spring and sprouted!) I HAD cleaned up 98% of the discarded tubers, just a few stragglers straggled : )

I read every now and then how "easy" dahlias are and wonder if I got off on the wrong planet. I am constantly out there tending, tying, pinching, watering, cutting, cussing, or fussing in one mode or another (photographing LOL) I am sure it's much easier to manage a smaller number, but the more you get, the busier you will be. And most people find you can't stop at just one- like potato chips, only low calorie.

As Carol Daisyruffles said, they are well worth any and all efforts: if you do a fairly decent job of it, you'll get tons of blooms and reproducable tubers as well. I do hope you forge ahead trying some tubers in pots or the ground, and maybe next year you WILL buy the house next door, bulldoze it, and create a heavenly dahlia patch. :) Annie- that is my dream out here!

I'm sold! I'm ready! Gimmee some tubers!

(And as I just typed those words I could hear the Canadian Geese honking outside on their way down south. Hope winter doesn't dampen my enthusiasm.)

Fine, if you want to trade/or do postage with me. Just look at my Trade List on the Dahlia Forum and let me know.
Am so glad that we will have another dahlia addict, lol.
Carol

Looks like we've got a convert! I will have extra tubers for sure, Nap. Anyone who wants to try their hand at easy dahlias should try Chimacum Topaz, or Gerry Hoek. I have multiples of these plants and they seem to be virtually indestructible unless you garden like Attila the Hun. Not sure how many tubers Gerry Hoek will produce, but I have 6-7 Chimacum Topaz plants and they are super tuber and bloom producers. Just D Mail me, if you're interested and I'll put you on the list. Would appreciate help with postage is all.

I may have extras too - I won't know for sure until I dig and divide. I will post what's available then.

You people are sooo nice to newcomers !! I wish I could hug each of you.

I think they're nice to everyone here, but especially to newcomers.

Hi everyone,
nap did you ever take pics of my zinna's. I love them as much as I love my dahlia's.
Want to hear how addicted i am to my garden. Next spring Im going to have my neighbors maple tree cut down so that I can have more sunlight--she hates the tree but won't spend the money to chop it down.

Nap, have you posted Donna's zinna pictures?
Supda, I would say you are definitely addicted. lol
Of course, here in Texas, I'll take all the shade I can get. :-)
(One of the dahlia's I got from the co-op this year.)

Like those dahlias, Terrie. They look like fire to me.

I don't exactly know the difference between a zinnia and a dahlia. (Don't roll your eyes at me) I may have shots of her zinnias and don't know it. She wasn't with me during my camera stroll through her garden. She was in the house, sick.

But here's a new photo I took of another friends flowers. I love this one.

Supda: confirming the diagnosis: you're toast when it comes to gardening!
And what a nice neighbor you have willing to let you take the tree out- regardless of the bill.

Trunnels, that is a gorgeous yellow/red combo. I am all for bright colors lately.

Nap, just a beautiful photo, love the draped petals at the vase bottom. Love the vase!