Speaking of dahlia imperialis

Well, my fellow Gritdigers, I was out deadheading my primroses and they are in the same bed as my imperialis which I never dug and guess what I saw. I couldn't believe it, it was about two inches tall. These last two 80* days pushed it out of the ground. Does this mean it all begins again?

I haven't even separated my regular dahlias. I have checked them and they look great; guess I better get started this afternoon.
Joann
PS It is really up Wallaby but I can't find my camera either. Honest.

O no Lenjo has a HUGE head start on me :O That is very cool though Lenjo (she says in her best totally fake goodsportsmanlike voice)

Hi Joann, hope all is well with you!

Wow, that sure is early for the dahlia tree to be coming up. I have looked at my pics and usually don't see anything popping up until the first week of May in the past years.
I looked at mine yesterday and didn't see anything. I didn't look real close so.................
I really want to take a cutting/piece of it and see if it will grow somewhere else in my garden but am too chicken to try to cut out a piece of it.

But that is good that yours is still alive after our nasty, cold winter. Yes, the last couple days of heat has been very nice!

Carol

Well, here is a pic of mine today

Another picture of it.

It has more stalks than I thought it would. More keep coming as time goes.
Would love to divide it and grow it in another place but am so afraid of trying to cut into it and ruin the shoots that are there already.

So shall see how it does this year. I had to put a piece of fiberglass around it to keep it from freezing its little buns off this past winter. Looks like it worked!

Hi Carol,

I still can't find our camera but I have looked several times too. Mine is at least twelve inches tall with the same multiple stems coming up. Guess I will have to dig it next year. I haven't even planted my regular dahlias yet. I would love to get to it this weekend but too much going on. Have you got your others in the ground? It is still so cold in the mornings and we just got so much rain. I have so many things to plant; am getting anxious. Joann

You guys are growing DI Forests ^_^

Howdy, Joann, Good to see you here!
Am glad your dahlia tree is still happy too. Guess we both will have to dig it but.................I don't want to kill it!!! I really don't know where to divide it?
Last year, I had a stalk break in a wind storm so I just brought that into the greenhouse in peat moss for the winter and it ended up putting out a shoot. Well, the darn thing gotten eaten by a snail so it never produced anything so it died. Was very unhappy about that. So it another stalk would break off.................then I could be happy, LOL

Well, darn it. Find that dang camera, LOL You need it to take pics of the grandkids at least! LOL

Yes, all my dahlias are in the ground and some are putting out shoots above the soil. Tho the snails are taking a toll on those too so..........am slug/snail baiting a lot again. If the shoots get big enough, the battle is won, but...........the ones with only like 1 shoot, it just gets eaten down to the nub. So the battle is still on........................LOL

LOL Moose, we crossed post but yes, we are the NW remember? We have lots of trees here so might as well be dahlia trees too! LOL
But you up there have even more trees than us, so it will be very interesting to see how yours does too!

I think Chocolatemoose is going to give everyone a run for their money in the contest this year. You have soooooo much sunlight yours will be very happy.

DRuffles...We've got the sunlight, but won't have the real warm temps. Average temps will be 70's to occassional very low 80, with 65ish nights...We'll see! I'm excited to get it outdoors, but it is still in the garage, looking extremely healthy though...Really pretty vibrant green foliage.

DNut...The first time I came to visit before I moved here, one of the very first things I noticed was the height of the trees. Coming from CT, I was used to shorter, rounder what I called "fat" trees. Oaks, maples, ect. The trees here are tall and skinny...LOL. White birch, cottonwoods...

Mine had two sprouts on it and it went into the barrel a couple of days ago. I have another that is in a pot in the greenhouse. The one in the greenhouse will stay there and I'm going to pinch it back and see if it will be a bush and still fit in my small greenhouse all summer. It can only get 8 ft tall so I will be doing a lot of pinching.

Willow, did you dig yours up? Did you divide them???
That will be interesting to see how the pinching back will do. Pinching those large, thick stalks will be good to see how you do then.

I am sooooooooo tempting to cut one of the shoots and propagate it to see if I can get it to grow like a regular dahlia tuber cutting. There are 2 shoots that are right next to each other so.....not sure on what to do.

Found another couple shoots at the base of my dahlia tree. This year will have more stalks than ever, I think. By keeping that fiberglass sheet there is helping. LOL I just haven't had the time to remove it yet. It was over 80's deg. today so it was quite warm inside, I bet!

Yes, I have to dig mine up. Last year it had two stalks that were grown together. The whole thing fit in a 32 gal plastic container. This year, I took a hack saw and sawed between the two stalks as each had sprouts started.The one in the greenhouse, I trimmed off most of the tubers and planted it in a 14" pot. It had 2 sprouts growing so I think I will pinch it like I do my other dahlias along with the lateral and as it grows another 16 to 20", I'm going to pinch it again and go from there. In that it has 2 sprouts, when they get big enough, I'm going to take a cutting , add a little rootone and start that one in another pot in the greenhouse and let them race. My greenhouse is only 6' by 8' and 8' tall so it should be interesting. I 'll post photos so we will see what happens. I don't grow anything in the greenhouse in the summer so they can have the whole space. I figure that I will have to throw water in from the door because if they grow like they grow outside it should be a mass of green in there and perhaps flowers if I can control the height.

"The Dahlia that Ate Bath, NY" Opening at theatres this summer.

Tee hee Dnut! I'd buy a ticket. I will look forward to your photos Willow.

I found some more shoots on my dahlia trees. So I have like a total of 6-8 now. The last ones I found is huge. Was hidden behind a delphinium which its leaves were into the old stalks of the dahlia tree and didn't see that the dahlia tree shoot was there. Thought it was delph. leaves! LOL
So now the shoots are like far apart from each other so am wondering if it too late to try to cut into the whole tree stalks and divide it??? Will I damage it all by doing it now?
If I had known that many shoots would have shown up, I would have divided it earlier.

So what do you all think???

Here is crappy pic of my dahlia tree as of the other day.
It is like almost 5' tall right now. Has many stalks on it. Like 6-8 so will be interesting to keep them all going upward. They tend to want to lean outward.
Doubt it will bloom this year but I like the tree since it is a pretty, dainty type of tree to grow. It looks good back there in the back to cover up the neighbors ugly fence.
I really wished I had tried to divide it now. With so many stalks, I couldn't have done wrong. But the tuber/ground was soooooo hard and I couldn't get a shovel/big knife/1/2 moon blade in there to cut at all. I would need a ground chain saw almost. I guess to really do it right, I would dig up the whole darn thing, but then it would it would be huge. Plus it is very difficult since it in next to that cattle panel fencing too.

So how is everyone else's dahlia tree doing this year??? Alive, dead, so-so, slow, etc?

Here's another pic of it.

My outside wine barrel DI is at 37 inches. It has grown 16 inches in 11 days with 3 sprouts. The greenhouse DI #1 is 36 inches and I have pinched out the top. DI#2 in the greenhouse, the cutting, has taken hold and is at 14 ". Go figure, the outside DI is bushier than the greenhouse one. I should have pinched the GH DI sooner but I will keep pinching to see what happens.

Here's the one in the greenhouse

They do make nice trees, don't they?

Hey, Carol, you think we might see bloom again, for me it will be a first. I can't believe how healthy this guy is this year. I haven't measured or photographed, still can't find that darn camera, maybe I will ask one of the girls to photograph it for me. My other dahlias are all up and growing very well. Looking forward to more blooms than ever.

No, Joann, I don't think we will see it bloom this year. Last year was an ureal year and I bet it won't repeat this year. It was so nice to not have it freeze until Dec. so I don't think we will see that for a long time again!
You need to put a gps on that darn camera then. LOL
Good that your other dahlias are doing well tho. Did you replant the tubers as I know your soil is pretty mucky?

Lenjo, didn't you have a new porch built by DH and have to move your biggest DI or something last year? I will have to follow your ladies' progress because my DI died in the great blizzard of 08. I had hopes for it until about 3 weeks ago with no growth showing. Now a mere regular dahlia takes its spot in the half barrel.

Hi Annie,
Yes, I had a porch built but he had to push out a large rhododendron which then toppled my dahlia imperialis. It did live through our cold winter and is now at least 6 feet tall with several stems.
The guy at church who I gave several starts threw them out as it didn't thing the bloom was worth it. I wish I would have known. I would have had several starts to share.

Didn't think the bloom was worth it????
Geez, I don't grow it just for the bloom. I grow the dahlia tree for the gorgeous leaves and stalks too! To me, it is such a pretty tree to have in the garden!
Too bad you didn't get it back then.
Annie, if you want a start, come and help me dig mine up in the fall then! LOL Bring a backhoe! LOL

I know, Daisy, I was really disappointed he didn't offer them back. It is so true, who grows for the bloom exactly? It is so rare here; maybe it is the thrill of the chase so to speak. But watching the phenemonal growth is so worth it in itself.

BTW, Carol, I have several Ted's Choices going this year thanks to you.
Joann

Joann, Yes, the challenge is the fun of life in the garden!
I am glad you have 'Ted's Choice' still growing. I almost lost it tho. I think I have a tuber with a nice shoot like 4-5" tall on it if the darn snails would just leave it alone. I love the color of it.

Sorry Annie about your DI. If I had known I would have sent you another. I had one VERY large one in storage and cut it in two and then took a cutting. The two I separated were so big that I trimmed off some of the tubers to a manageable size and threw the scraps in this years compost pile.. Well........I guess I can't kill a DI(knock on wood) because one of those scraps is now growing even though there is very little dirt just yard weeds. Dahlia's are the toughest plant I know! He's a scruffty looking plant but growing no matter what,lol

OMG Willow! You've either got the greenest thumb or the toughest DI ever. I've had regular ones do that when cast off into the edge of the woods, but not a DI. Well done. Maybe I can beg you for one of its progeny some year.

How was it dividing what I assume was a fat tuber clump? Saw? Machete?

In June I found my whole bag of "That's Jake" buried in the basement Tuber Awakening and Sorting clutter. They were still in a smattering of vermiculite which had dried out other tubers horribly, and these were a bit shriveled, with their shoots anemic and pale. All of them I planted are now busy catching up to the regularly planted ones and doing great!

I'll be happy watching the battle of the DI warriors this year~!

Well, I took a saw and cut between the two stalks, both of which had shoots started. When they were still together , the whole clump barely fit into a 32 gallon plastic container. Cut apart, they were still so big that I wasn't sure how to plant them. So I took a pair of scissors and cut off all the tubers and just planted the stalk that had 2 sprouts a piece. I threw the tubers in the compose and rubbed the dirt on my pants and congratulated myself for a job well done. Figuring that they grow or they don't. Well the one in the wine barrel, now has 3 stalks growing a very, very healthy and the one in the greenhouse is already touching the ceiling( 8') and I have pinched it 3 times. I not sure what's going to happen with that bad boy. The cutting I took is still at a reasonable height , around 40 inches. I wished I had known yours was gone because I could have easily sent you one. I will make sure you have one next year, knowing now that I can trim it down so postage will not be so extreme.

LOL- "rubbed the dirt on my pants and congratulated myself on a job well done~!" That's a good day in the garden!

Willow, your bad boy in the green house may be one of the few "Amazing Arching DI's" come October.

I, for one, request regular status reports on the DIs around the nation and beyond. They are just too fun to watch grow not to share.

Yes please. DI reports please.

If we are growing one in a 1/2 oak barrel, do we measure from the soil level in the barrel or from the ground?

I grew mine in barrel too and measured from the soil surface. How's yours coming along Chocolatemoose?

It's doing okay, I guess. As of July 13, the tuber I got on ebay is 5'8' from the soil level in it's 1/2 barrel . Two healthy, solid stalks from the one original cane. Gets lots of morning sun, some mid-day shade, then afternoon sun, evening shade. It's in a barrel in front of some birch trees so I'd have something to anchor it to. It has two branches with yellowing leaves, which I haven't determined the cause of. Doesn't seem to be too wet and I fertilize...But the rest is pretty healthy...(Wish I could say the same for my other dahlias, which are having a lousy year all around.) It is sharing it's space with a few gladiolas I stuck in the front of the barrel a few days ago. Out of space in the yard so they had to go somewhere.

My battery died before I could take a pic of the one from Tod. VERY healthy, but much shorter at exactly 3 feet. It was a tuber, was planted later and is in a spot where it gets less direct sun. Thinking of moving it, but those w/2 barrels weigh a ton. It's happy...just short. One of my DH's pet names for me is Runt because I'm a foot shorter than him, so he says our second dahlia tree is just like me!

Ooh I love the birch tree enclave protecting the DI. Not only are they good stakes, but very pretty too. The DI looks happy there. What's going on with your regular dahlias?

I hope a bear didn't get Chocolatemoose. Too quiet on this thread, so I hope the DI growers will chime in as time allows and let us hear about/see progress on their plants as frost looms and November approaches.

Has anyone had blooms yet?

I saw a bud today. It has officially reached the top of my roof in the last couple of days. Sorry still no camera.