I dug up my Dahlias last Fall and replanted them this Spring. These were just the regular tall Dahlias. I don't have the name or color they were but this year they grew like the Dahlia tree. I've never had this to happen before. This is a poor picture of the plant.
This is a picture of it after I cut it back and dug it.
Another picture
This is one tuber that broke off as I dug up the plant.
This is the stalk before I dug it up.
Did it have flowers you say? To be honest I don't even recognize that foliage as anything like any dahlias I've seen. The stalks look right for a dahlia, but the tuber is quite different with multiple stalks coming off it so far apart. Were there any other tubers as are normally seen on a dug up clump?
Weird. It's a mystery to me. I love your gnome!
Poochella, it got frosted before the buds got to bloom.I was really hoping they would bloom before the frost got them. The stalk was much bigger than any of my Dahlias. Regular tubers was what I planted but they were so huge when I dug them up. I've never had this to happen to any of my Dahlias before. They definately looked like the Dahia tree.
I found a few more pictures of these dahlias. This is a picture of the stalk.
Another picture of the plant. It sure grew like my Dahlia tree.
Where did you get the tuber from? Maybe it was mistakenly labelled or packaged? It just doesn't look like a regular garden dahlia, although the stalks do; I still don't think the foliage looks right.
I hope Doss, Lenjo or Dr. Don will comment and be able to tell you if it's a dahlia tree or not. You have me stumped.
hiya ahelms,
It got frosted before it could bloom? Sounds like the disappointment all of us tree dahlia growers face every year...hoping against hope that the weather will hold long enough for them to bloom.
Your plant does indeed look like a tree dahlia's foliage. Was the growth rate something that could hardly be believed? The tuber, however is a little confusing to me in that I have never encountered tubers and have to make root cuttings to propagate mine. There are other species dahlias out there, and D. exelsa does make some energy storage tubers, but it gets 15ft tall and your plant doesn't look that big. When did you plant them? Did they have the entire growing season? Are they mixed in with other dahlias? Do I sound like Torquemada?....lol.
don
Don, it wasn't a Dahlia tree. It was a regular Dalhia tuber that I had dug the previous Fall and replanted this Spring. They were just tall Dalhias but I don't know the names but they've never grown like this before. I have the Dahlia tree like you're referring to but these weren't the tree. They were just Dahlia tubers like you buy at Lowe's or Home Depot. I don't usually dig my tubers. I just mulch and leave them in the ground and hope they make it but last year I wanted to divide them and my helper didn't keep them separated (tall, medium and short) So I planted these where I usually plant some short ones and they grew like this. It's amazing to me. LOL
Poochella, it never grew like this in previous years. It always grew like a Dahlia and had big blooms on them. Never like a Dahlia tree. I potted them up and put them in the garage. We'll see what they do next year.
I think in the deep of night, the gnome did some gardening of his own and dug up your regular tubers and transplanted a dahlia tree rooting. Could have had help from moles or gophers- they're all in cahoots! Just to mess with us....
I'll be curious to see what your mystery tubers do next year. It certainly is a mystery.
LOL Poochella. I need to install a motion sensitive camear out there so we can watch the Gnome..
