Tod's Dahlias for 2006 - so far!

I am a bit behind here, since I had to plant a bit later than most, but better late than never!

This is my first, Lavender Ruffles:

And this is my Elma Elizabeth:

Gregory Stephen:

Almand Supreme:

A somewhat anorexic Aloha, at least that was what I was sold. If so, it is thin because I let the second shoot live I guess:

April Dawn:

Bella S:

Blackberry Ripple (had to stand on a chair to get this!):

Mingus Kyle D:

And Snowbound:

Nice Tod

I did have Aloha ordered, but it was out. I don't think it looks thin - it's nice.
A lot of my plants have 2 or 3 stems.
Almand Supreme, April Dawn and Mingus really stand out.

Wow- well done Tod. I like the anorexic Aloha! And the lavender ones always appeal to me. Almand Supreme in particular.

How late did you plant? I have quite a few that didn't get in the ground until June, so you're right on schedule of they went in that late.

Congrats Tod!! They look great. Your Aloha looks very different than mine...Iwill take a photo when she blooms again...we can compare!

Have fun!

All looking good, Tod.

Your Elma Elizabeth is a bit curly too. Carol was wondering why hers was not curly at all while mine is like someone's hair in heat and humidity. It's interesting to see how Dahlias turn out in different locations. Thanks for posting.

Sure must be the humidity back east, lol, on that 'Elma El.' for you guys. I looked yesterday and still no real curls.
Tod, nice dahlias. Am concern tho on your pic for 'April Dawn'. It should be more white and lavender tho. Might really be another name.
Carol

Gorgeous, Tod, I guess it looks like it is unanimous, we all love Aloha.

Thanks guys and gals!

BigCityAl, I couldn't find any Alohas that weren't very expensive at the farms, but at the last minute I found some for sale on Ebay. I won them, and I put two in the ground and gave one to a friend. One of mine died from rot, with all the rain, unfortunately. And my friend's came out purple! So I begin to wonder of the authenticity.

Poochella, I planted in mid-May, so I guess I am not the latest. But I have much more to go! I think I have to provide more Nitrogen next year, I had been feeding them way too much 0-10-10, and they really appreciated it when I gave them lots of Miracle Grow (10-10-10). When I did that my shorties started to advance upward.

Pitimpinai, yes, it was over 100 degrees for awhile and very humid overall (until recently). The next Elma flower is almost done, but its pouring now, so I guess I can't make a comparison this time!

Here was where my Aloha was to come from
http://www.aztecdahlias.com/pages/Aloha.htm
yours does look a little more incurved cactus than semi I guess. Still nice color. Your planting wasn't really late then. you're zone 6 or so?

Thanks, Al! I must get a bunch next year. I really like the two tone varieties, striped and speckled. I also have to get some Maniacs from Swan Island, they are like Poppers on steroids!

http://www.dahlias.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=480

Yes, I am in zone 6, not too far from 5.

Really some nice ones todgor. But where's the insect bites? None to be seen. I am in mourning right now, but will probably recover by next season. Great display.

Thanks, jam, that's where the careful placement of the camera comes in! :) They haven't really been greedy, the ones I have on the flowers, what I have mostly is little black slinking larvae of some kind, they are about 1-3mm long, so they are not big enough to make big bites. Disgusting they are, and I hate shooing them off when I cut the flowers. I call them "slakes" because it kind of describes their motion to me (they slaked across the bloom..)

Also I have the occasional earwig (eeeww) and a grasshopper once. Oh, and the endless march of the mini ants, what are they doing?

But the bad boy cutter beetles who do real damage have mostly perished when I started using Spinosad. It is your friend!

Nice dahlia's . i'm with Jam , covered with bug bites. I have an Elma also but has not opened it's pretty face. It will be interesting to compare with all I have seen as know one's looks the same. Thanks for sharing, Aloha

Hmm, I have mislabled some, the "April Dawn" was a NOID which I had thought was "Sunny", but isn't. I will post the actual April Dawn later. And the Almand Supreme is Almand Joy, the Supreme will come later!

Here's the actual April Dawn:

That looks better, LOL

OK, time for some more pictures! Will have more soon as the big flower push is on!

Here is a Blackberry with No Ripple (just got another like it today):

This tuber was labeled Big Wow, which it is not, kind of a Big Whoops (still nice):

Ferncliff Sunburst:

Gitt's Perfection:

Margaret Ellen:

Nenekazi:

Oreti Stacy:

Santa Claus:

Swan's Sunset:

Wonderful photos, Todgor. I sure do like that Nenekazi and Oreti Stacy.

Ooooh! New flowers! And I got to enjoy the ones from August all over again as an added bonus. Those are really nice Togdor. I love the wavery petals seen on Gitt's Perfection; there's just something so feathery and light about those.
And Big Whoops offers a great color combo even if it is a mistake. Celebrate your good misfortune!
I think you might get the imaginary award for the most purple ripple-free Blackberry Ripple. The best I could come up with is 75% purple, the rest variegated. Yours is still an awfully nice rich purple.

Does your Santa Claus have some hints of orange striping, near or mixed in with the red? Mine started out red and white, but nowdays there is more orange with red and white. Could be the sun fading out early, but even in hot sunny August there was one flush of them with just blah pale orange and white, hardly anything red. Weird huh?

Below is a blurry, photo of a pretty old Santa Claus and Skipley Spot shortly before they became compost. You can can a few stripes of orange on Santa Claus. And wouldn't you just once like to wear a shirt and pants in those two color combos to rile the tempers of the fashion police???? LOL!

Very nice Tod. Is your Big Wow like Haley Jane of Tahiti Sunrise?

How big is Ferncliff Sunburst? I do like laciniated ones too and Oreti Stacy looks great. Swan's Sunset and Santa Claus are sharp.

Thanks all! You could say I'm a late bloomer! :)

Pooch, I think I am going to buy up all flowers with the word Perfection in the name, saw another here that was pink that I have to have. I guess there has been a little fading in the Santa Claus flowers, though that plant is really on the thin side. I am wondering if nutrition affects flower color.

Al, my Big Whoops is kind of like a twisty Haley Jane, I am waiting on the next flowers to see a better one, that one was kind of sad. Sunburst is a small one, about 3 inches each, lots of flowers though. I want to get some super-lacinated ones next year, the ones that look like they went through the paper shredder.

Tod, you might consider Marlene Joy- it's certainly been a good bloomer here and very lacy- one of the laciest I've grown ina medium size ~6inches.

Tsuki Yori No Shisha is a big white lacy boofy one! It tends to have hollow stems for me and I cannot keep it as a cut flower more than a day or two, but if you only want it in the garden, that is also very pretty.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/poochella/New%20Dahlias%202005/The%20New%20Ones%202005/tsukiyori205.jpg

Swan's Sunset sharp. You have a nice variety Tod.