Dahlia Growers Unite!

What is your favourite form(s) of dahlia to grow?

  • Formal Decorative

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Single

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Collarette (or Micro Collarette)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Orchid (or Micro Orchid)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Cactus

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Semi-Cactus

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Informal Decorative

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Pompon

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Novelty Open Centre (or Micro Novelty Open Centre)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Ball (or Mini Ball)

    Votes: 2 100.0%
  • Orchette (or Micro Orchette)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Mingon Single

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Lacinated

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Stellar (or Micro Stellar)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Incurved Cactus

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Anemone (or Micro Anemone)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Waterlily (or Micro Waterlily)

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Peony (or Micro Peony)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Novelty Full Double (or Micro Novelty Full Double)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • ALL OF THEM!!!!!

    Votes: 1 50.0%

  • Total voters
    2

Offshoreorca

Whale Whisperer
Apr 15, 2020
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Nova Scotia
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I am both a chicken and dahlia fanatic and was wondering how many kindred spirits are out there on this forum.

How did you discover dahlias?

What are your favourite varieties to grow?

Share photos if you can! 🙂
 
I grew up with them - my father planted several varieties every year. As a child I didn't appreciate them as I do now.

Fast forward to last summer... after many years of having a veggie garden, I was inspired to grow dahlias again. I ordered several varieties in tuber form (in reality nearly a dozen) and grew some from seed. We had a wet cool start to summer so they didn't take off right away and I lost two tubers to rot (note to self that it's better to start them in pots inside when we have a wet year - the half I did that with had no trouble), but when they came into full bloom they were amazing!

So, dahlias are much like chickens in terms of the math department. Not only does your need for more varieties grow, but so does the number of plants you have via the multiplying of tubers! I grew mine in a 4x16ft raised box and this year I'll need at least double (if not triple) that space. Ordered another ten varieties 🤷‍♀️ and already cannot wait until the 2022 dahlia season.

So, who else is part of this chicken and dahlia addiction world?

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WARNING: If you are looking for a dahlia addiction support group, this is not it 😛 Photos of beautiful flowers may encourage you go out and buy more tubers!
 
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I am brand spanking new to the hobby and had only 3 this year. I can say that I have many more on order for spring, and kept some seeds to plant just for fun and see what I get also. I am also really into peonies and between the two and having some fun learning to grow flowers. The three I had this year were all quite different. I had Creme de Cassis, Belle of Barmera, and a pom pom called Burlesca. Burlesca was supposed to be American Dawn purchased at Fleet Farm, but they must have had some kind of mix up when bagging, because that was not what was bloomed haha.

My Creme de Cassis was an absolute nut and produced so many flowers I just stopped cutting them after a while because I couldn't find enough people to give them away to. Burlesca was much the same:

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Burlesca Above
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Creme de Cassis above

We got a pretty bad storm and unfortunately I hadn't staked well enough and my Belle had two of its stems blown over. I didn't get as many flowers from that one as the other two, but they were gorgeous. The tubers also came and got planted a bit late so I think if any of my tubers make it through storage, and are staked better next year, I should get a lot more flowers.

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We tried two different ways of storing tubers for the winter so we'll see how that goes. My mom and I are starting back into/just starting into on my side these wonderful, beautiful flowers!

Can't wait to see everyone else's!
 
@Offshoreorca I'd love to hear about your pest protection protocol. I went to using organza bags around buds because the Japanese Beetles are so bad here now, and then when they finally subsided some, I got some kind of corn borer little green bugs that were horrible. I'm not big on using pesticides since most are harmful to bees and butterflies, but I know there has to be some other way to keep the dang flower wreckers at bay!
 
I am brand spanking new to the hobby and had only 3 this year. I can say that I have many more on order for spring, and kept some seeds to plant just for fun and see what I get also. I am also really into peonies and between the two and having some fun learning to grow flowers. The three I had this year were all quite different. I had Creme de Cassis, Belle of Barmera, and a pom pom called Burlesca. Burlesca was supposed to be American Dawn purchased at Fleet Farm, but they must have had some kind of mix up when bagging, because that was not what was bloomed haha.

Such beautiful blooms! And a nice variety. I haven't grown any of those specifically, but they are popular ones in the dahlia world for good reason.

I love the look of the larger "dinner plate" style ones, but they don't last as well as the ball forms when they're cut.

You'll have to share your list of varieties for next year :)

I am adding (in 2022):

Boom Boom White
Penhill Dark Monarch
Peaches N' Cream
Sherwood's Peach
Dark Spirit
Isabel
Clyde's Choice
Labyrinth (my tuber rotted last year)
Karma Maarten Zwaan
American Dawn (also one of my rotted tubers last spring)

I currently have (photos are my own):

Cafe au Lait

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Penhill Autumn Shade

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Lilac Time

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Maarn

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Viking

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EZ Bee (my own from 2021 seedling)

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EZ Unama'ki (my own from 2021 seedling)

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Penhill Watermelon

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Jowey Winnie

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Chimacum Nadjae

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Cornel Brons

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@Offshoreorca I'd love to hear about your pest protection protocol. I went to using organza bags around buds because the Japanese Beetles are so bad here now, and then when they finally subsided some, I got some kind of corn borer little green bugs that were horrible. I'm not big on using pesticides since most are harmful to bees and butterflies, but I know there has to be some other way to keep the dang flower wreckers at bay!

Here's a link to a great podcast on natural pest control for dahlias!

https://coseytownflowers.com/dahlia-education/

We are fortunate that we only really deal with earwigs and slugs. We do have cucumber beetles earlier in the year, but they tend to want to stick closely to my summer squash - and I don't mind having a sacrificial patch for that reason!

We do have some pressure on the blooms, but I hardly had to use organza this year. I will next summer as I plan on selling some, but the damage wasn't bad enough for my own personal use to go through the trouble this year (as you can see in the photos above).

However, every year pest pressures tend to change a little, so it's good to be ready for everything!
 
You have some on my want list and ones on order list! I'm ordering from 2 places this year, and hopefully I get the ones I ordered and not substitutions from the one place. I have read some not so good reviews now, and my mom got hers subbed this year without knowing it was going to be and wasn't very happy. I'm crossing my fingers I get everything I ordered!

I have on one order:
American Dawn
Cornel Bronze
October Sky
Penhill Watermelon

On the other order:
Heather Feather
Gitty Up
Giggles
Ice Tea
Gitts Crazy

I really want Cafe Au Lait, but I'm waiting until my tuber saving powers are better.

I'm really excited to try and plant some from seed since they will all be different. Is that what you did this year? Planted seedlings and they bloomed same year? I'm hoping if I can start them inside sometime in January and get them outside they'll bloom same year.

Also, beautiful photos! My camera broke and I haven't gotten a new one yet so it was only phone pictures for me.

I'll definitely be giving that podcast a listen!
 
You have some on my want list and ones on order list! I'm ordering from 2 places this year, and hopefully I get the ones I ordered and not substitutions from the one place. I have read some not so good reviews now, and my mom got hers subbed this year without knowing it was going to be and wasn't very happy. I'm crossing my fingers I get everything I ordered!
Ahhh! We definitely have some of the same taste - I would love to eventually get Gitt's Crazy and Iced Tea! October Sky looked super pretty too when I saw that one.

You'll love Cornel Bronze and Penhill Watermelon - PW has the most beautiful giant blooms 💕

I hope you do get what you've ordered! That is unfortunate that things are being subbed.

I really want Cafe Au Lait, but I'm waiting until my tuber saving powers are better.

CAL is a little stingy with the tubers - I only got two from my plant this year, but they are nice big ones! She is such a beautiful flower and worth the wait!

I'm really excited to try and plant some from seed since they will all be different. Is that what you did this year? Planted seedlings and they bloomed same year? I'm hoping if I can start them inside sometime in January and get them outside they'll bloom same year.

Yes. Watch that you don't start them too early - 4-6 weeks before your last frost day approximately. They take around 120 days to bloom and produce viable tubers but it's such a lovely surprise and well worth it. EZ Bee and EZ Unama'ki were both from seedlings that I started at the beginning of June :)

Also, beautiful photos! My camera broke and I haven't gotten a new one yet so it was only phone pictures for me.

Thanks! These are 50/50 from a proper camera and from a cell phone camera - only the first four are from my good camera 🥰

Hope the podcast helps you with your pests this year! It will be so exciting to see your blooms.
 
I'm very excited for next year and hope it goes as good or better than this year!

Cornel Bronze is not a typical color for me, but I just loved it for some reason, that's one I'm pretty excited about.

I can't wait to see pictures of yours next summer also. It's so much fun seeing those first blooms, and collecting some of the hundreds or maybe even thousands of varieties out there. Will you be planting seed from any of your flowers next year? The seed intrigues me the most since every seed will be a different flower as I understand it. All my types were so different it'll be really cool to see what comes through in seedlings... or not!

Hopefully we find some other dahlia lovers here!
 
I'm very excited for next year and hope it goes as good or better than this year!

Cornel Bronze is not a typical color for me, but I just loved it for some reason, that's one I'm pretty excited about.

I can't wait to see pictures of yours next summer also. It's so much fun seeing those first blooms, and collecting some of the hundreds or maybe even thousands of varieties out there. Will you be planting seed from any of your flowers next year? The seed intrigues me the most since every seed will be a different flower as I understand it. All my types were so different it'll be really cool to see what comes through in seedlings... or not!

Hopefully we find some other dahlia lovers here!

There must be more folks out there, so hopefully we'll get a few more to join. In the mean time, we can just dream of the year to come!

It will be fun to share when the growing season starts! I might plant a few seeds, but not sure as I didn't keep my own this past year. I will certainly be trying my hand a breeding some new varieties for the coming season :) I really enjoyed growing from seed this past year. Always love the surprise!

Cornel Bronze is super beautiful! I grew her for the first time this past year, though she didn't do well as she was overshadowed and outcompeted by a giant sunflower that I just didn't have the heart to rip out. She will do much better this year and gave me some nice tubers still :)
 

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