Dahlias in the Greenhouse: There be Buds

I always fuss more over the development of the big guns...

meanwhile luvly little Suitzus Julie has decided to be budful ^_^

Three Julie plants have flower buds. Guess who just got moved to premo full sun shelf space ^_^ Guess whose doing a Dance of Joy ^_^ She is truly a minature water lily maxing out at 14" tall with 1" blooms but I luv her for her daintyness.

Oh my stars Les! That is a beautiful sight for any zone, but for zone 3 I'd have to go with miraculous growing prowess and wonderfulness of a greenhouse. Here I've been happy to have sprouts and modest growth in the neighbors' greenhouse, but to have buds and blooms already is beyond words. Season Dahlianut 09 is underway!

Have you noticed Ferncliff shoots, by and large, are jumping out of their pots? That is the case here: way ahead of others and sturdy stalks emerging. So now I see the proof in their very positive ratings.

Enjoy every petal of those in bloom. Hooray for you!

The flower pic is from the garden last summer Pooch. The big fat buds in the greenhouse have a bit to go before they open.

Yeah, but big fat buds on May 1st are incredible and something to celebrate. I was ready to defect to Canada to get blooms this early :)

Pooch - you'll change your mind about coming here when we post later this month that we've had a May snow storm - it's inevitable. LOL.

Dahlianut - awesome growing happening there! Man, I soooo need a greenhouse. I have pots of dahlias in the house everywhere, even my dining room table. Poor guys need to get out doors into some sunshine, but it's just too cold at night still.

Joanne

One of the budful Julie's is for you Jo North so commence the dance of joy ^_^

Jo North, we've had fleeting snow in May as well and just finished 3" of rain/wind in as many days. All my prepared holes are now totally soggified and await some sun to dry them out. Perhaps I'll be able to plant some of the bigger plants soon, but barely sprouted/rooted tubers are going to have to wait as if I'm in Chocolate Moose's zone.

I have a question about moving advanced plants out of the greenhouse: since they will now be overnighting in my garage and out in sun (hopefully) by day: should they be gradually exposed to advancing hours of bright sun, or can I just assume they've been irradiated enough in the greenhouse and plunk them out all day? Thanks in advance.

Whats your secret for planting Dahlias in the hot-house. I planted around ten of them in pots in my hot-house, and half of them grew. I later dug up the others, and found that the tuber had rotted. Maybe I watered them too often? Do I need a special potting mix? Dahlias can be expensive - just trying to get better results than 50%.

I lost alot due to overwatering the first year ShepMike so that might have been your problem. You might try using a moisture meter to determine how frequently to water.