A few first blooms down south

hiya guys!

Hope everyone is well and Sudhira, I'm sure your weather will get better soon.

Overcast this morning so I thought I might catch a few of the early bloomers at a time when colors aren't washed out by the bright sun. I still don't know how to properly shoot closeups with this new camera, but If I find what I did with the owners manual I'll endeavor to get better pics eventually. If I don't find it.....well......the heck with it...lol.

I don't exactly remember if I purchased the seed for these little rascals from Plant World or Thompson and Morgan in the UK. They're called Harlequin Bedding (Seed) Dahlias. I really think the unusual variegations of red splashed with yellow are kind of neat. There are other colors as well, but none that don't need a little deadheading except this one. Out of two 3 euro packs of seed I was able to plant out about 45 plants which seems like a pretty good percentage of germination.

Dahlia coccineas all planted directly from seed into a half oak wine barrel in Pam's rose garden. I really do love these simple flowers that are so unapologetic about producing fabulously bright "see me" color....lol.

Many thanks to Carol (daisyruffles) for this one.....and she sent two of them last year!

Marie Schnugg, whom I've renamed 'Ain't Bashful'.....lol. I absolutely love this one and am so grateful to have it.

oops, here she is

I don't know the name of this one so I just call it 'I couldn't possibly be a real flower'. I think it came from Annie (Poochella) last year and it is one of Pam's favorites. Sure wish I knew how to take a proper macro image.

I and always thought it was Pooch's camera - it's her flowers that are out of focus.

Looking good so far.

here's the one Pam likes to refer to as 'Holy Smokes'. It's about five feet tall and the dahlia prison is holding it so straight it's just a dream come true.

The somewhat infamous BAW 'Big Arse White'. Another very heavy flower being held up nicely vertical by it's prison which is now totally obscured with foliage.

hiya bigcityal!

Great to see you!

Yeah maybe it's just Poochella's flowers....lol. To quote John Lovitz...."yeah.....that's it..."

The first blooms on BAW always seem a bit puny and this one didn't even make it to a foot wide....lol. I feel so cheated.

Since I'm not a participant of the GRITDIG, I thought I might post a measured pic of the tallest of my plants so far. The grade pole telescopes out to only 8ft, so I'll soon need to break out the larger one to see how tall this one gets.

A closer view of the measurement.

have a relaxing weekend in your gardens everyone!

best to all,
don

Oh wow, thanks for the pictures. Now I have something to look forward to real soon!!!
I just love your varigated one, yellow/red. Very nice.
The 'Holy Smoke' is a very pretty one. I can see why Pam likes it.
The bicolor ones are one my favorite too. You must have gotten that from Annie.
Am glad you like 'Marie Schnugg' aka 'Ain't bashful' now, LOL
Love your new names!!!

Of course, love the BAW. Well darn, only 10", duh. That is still a biggy!
I have lost a couple of mine from you for some reason. Have one left. Will have to dig it up this fall to get more tubers!

Your dahlia tree is huge! I need to go measure mine and take pics.

Keep the pictures coming. Us here in the NW love them.
Carol

love BAW, drdon what kind of cages and how? should I invest as the largest I have is 5' plant? thanks, roni

Hooray! It is fun to see the blooming begin! I have a way to go before I see any blooms, but it is worth the wait! I visited one of our socities members the other day, and she had some beautiful blooms...I love dahlias!!!

Can't wait to see more!!

P.S. A bit of sun is poking through the clouds...Yes!

hiya Elizabethtown,

great to see you.

Please go to this thread to see the Dahlia prisons I'm referring to..... http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/724447/

About half way down the thread you'll see what I'm talking about. I make these doggone things here at the ranch because I could never avoid almost losing an eye to a stake or having a heavy plant tip over because tomato cages are too flimsy.

best to you!
don

Wow, quite the undertaking. I'm not sure I'm up to that challenge yet! Thanks for the info.

Blooms already, wow, the purple white bicolor looks like one I would call Wicky Woo. I don't even have all mine up yet. They have been in the ground almost 3 weeks.

Those dahlia 'prisons' are wonderful. Good old rebar is the new duct tape for gardeners. I have seen a really cute clematis support system(sorry no photo) made of rebar, I have hinted and begged my dh but this is not the time of year for great ideas. I just use a rebar stake for dahlias. I think your prisons on a taller scale would be wonderful for some of the DA roses. I did use my upside down wire spools and Abraham Darby is standing so tall and the cage has disappeared.

This message was edited Jun 3, 2007 7:10 PM

wow - some real beauties drdon!

Great to see your dahlias Dr Don and those dahlia cages are marvelous!

I'm also heartened to see I'm not the only one who can blur a photo. Yipee! Crowing with glee here.

Purple and white is either Rothsay Reveler or Ryan C.
The yellow with bronze semicactus dubbed "Holy Smokes' is the nearly indestructible Chimacum Topaz and one of my oldest dahlias.

I managed to save and have one BAW now growing here in WA. It's a beaut. Well done, Dr. Don.

LOL Annie, you are so proud of your lousy pictures, LOL

Am glad you have a good BAW tuber. I am still waiting for mine to show its face?

Woo Hoo! Dahlia season is upon us. I have one with some buds on it. That's quite a dahlia i. I can see that mine would be happier with some sun! LOL

Find the macro feature on your camera quick Don! It's easily done and then you won't have to worry about fuzzy photos.

hiya guys,

I've got a couple of more that should be opening by the weekend which is very exciting. Some of the Karmas I got from you both last year are beginning to do their thing. I'll have to think hard to make up good names for them...lol. It's been very warm here the last few days and the Dahlias have really begun to spring into action. Some of the dinnerplates I bought from Swan Island are also up and growing nicely. It should be fun to see how big they can get down here in this heat.

I'm chomping at the bit to see what all of you have coming up and will vigilantly be watching for all of the great stuff coming in your gardens.

best,
don

Don't chomp too hard Don.

This is the closest I have right now.

Weather here is much warmer, but crazy windy...very odd weather...the dahlias are growing much stronger thank goodness...having fun seeing all the blooms happening, can't wait to see some of my...not for a few more weeks though!

I have one bloom!!!
I need to take a picture of it!
It is a border one that was overwintered in the raised bed.
Also am close to the same old yellow border one just about to open up too.
So some of my dahlias are coming along very nicely.
Carol

I have 2 blooms today, an orchid type called KKKatie...no camera whilst I was in the patch...!

Oh, the early morning rush to the computer will soon be on, to view everyone's new babies and re-view some of the old standbys. I can hardly wait for more. I'm probably a good month from blooms so keep me pacified everyone who is getting them.

Now I'm sure summer is really here!! See, that dahlia dance really does work. Bring them on everyone!!!

KKKKatie! Hot color, lots of beautiful little orchids for you and your bees. Enjoy!

Jam, the dahlia dance could be contagious this time of year. I liked your jingle in the other thread. "Cha cha cha" as someone on GW used to summarily proclaim when all was going great!~

BAW in all of it's splendor. This thing is just so amazing I can't believe it sometimes. For scale, the Calendula flowers are between 1.5 and 3in in diameter. The cage that BAW is in helped it stand up through a bit of a windstorm yesterday where it only lost one branch. Last year I'd have lost the entire plant. I'm beginning to believe that these cages are exactly what we were looking for to support our plants.

hope everyone is well, and please show KKKatie when you have a chance Sudhira
don

Beautiful Don

Amazing, picture perfect!!!! Most of the whites I have seen look so crappy so quickly but gee this one looks proud in all its glory.The cage definitely puts it over the top. Great job, don with those cages.

Tremendous flower volume there Don - congrats on your cages.

WOW, what a bunch of whities! Those blooms look great, Don. Yep, those cages are just the thing for such large, heavy blooms.

Big Fluffy Whitesters! Cha cha cha and ooh la la. That is just a marvel, Dr. Don. Think of the weight of those bloms alone- a great testament to your foundry works on the dahlia cages. Suddenly I can't wait for BAW-NW to bloom!