Okay, Lesa!

[skeeter9]

That newest one is gorgeous, too, Steve.

So, maybe my problem was the cold, not the heat. Maybe as I work on landscaping the front yard, I can find a place to put some of those beauties that would be relatively convenient to lift them every year? Hmmmm

 

[digitS']

With a zone 8 winter, mulching the roots should be enuf to get them thru - but, I am only guessing. For sure, the roots cannot freeze in the ground; that will kill them.

Dahlias are from the mountains of Mexico.

I grow annual flowers from seed each year. So, I can plant a bed with snapdragons or zinnias. Dahlias really seem to be as easy. The "lifting" of the plants in the fall isn't much different than pulling frost-killed annuals and carrying them off to the compost pile. Only the old tubers are tossed in the compost, however. This year's tubers will be dropped into peat moss and stored in the basement. Instead of planting seed and tending an annual for weeks in the greenhouse, I just have to replant the tuber at the start of the next growing season.

It seems quite easy to me, Skeeter .

Steve

 

[RustyDHart]

Very Nice photos Steve.......mine are a bit slower this year. I do have several buds and hope to show some photos soon. Only 400 or so plants this year.....1/5th of what I had last year. I don't know if you had a photo of "Kelvin Floodlight" Steve.....but here is one from my dahlia garden a couple of years ago.....the largest Dahlia I've ever had was 12 1/2 in. a few years ago....and it was a Kelvin Floodlight....I have seen 17 in. blooms at the bigger shows. Lesa.....between Steve and I...I'm sure we'll get you some more tubers and help you on the road to the Dahlia world........ "Kelvin Floodlight"

 

[digitS']

Yes, Rusty, there it is - big, beautiful flower!

Have I told you about why I haven't had that variety the last few years?

I dug the tubers one year and loaded them into the bed of the pickup and brought them home. It was fairly late, I was tired and the pickup had a canopy. I thought I'd just keep it closed in the driveway and begin cleaning the roots the next day, getting them ready to put away in the basement.

The temperature dropped to 28F by the next morning! The tubers at the very back of the pickup froze. Of course, all the Kelvin Floodlights were back there!



BTW - I read somewhere that the physicist who gave us the Kelvin temperature scale also lent his name to this dahlia variety. I believe it was named for him but he might have been a dahlia breeder, don't know . Anyway, 28F is 270.777K . . .

Steve

 

[skeeter9]

Oh my, Rusty, that dahlia is incredible! Only 400 this year? What a slacker!!! haha

Steve, that doesn't sound too difficult. Maybe next year I can put some in and see how it goes. They are just soooo gorgeous and they really make an impression. Thanks for the info.

 

[digitS']

I really need to get on a ladder over at my dahlia garden to take a picture. The plants are so large that growing "a few" in the same place -- well, it is a little hard to capture the view of them.

Most people would be fine to have several specimens intermixed with other plants in a border. Or, in broader landscaping, having a bed devoted to dahlias where one could turn into his or her driveway or stand at a window and be greeted by their bright loveliness.

Then there are people who have "a few" in a garden . . . I once had 300 but that was in a slightly larger garden. I'd guess that there are about 280 now. But, that gives me a good idea of what 400 would look like! And, if there were more than that . . !! I mean, if they were all together, some of them are taller than I am! It would be a dahlia jungle with big, bright blooms around every corner!

Hey, Lesa! How about glads? Wanna grow some gladiolas with your dahlias?? Horseback! Yeah, garden tours on horseback!

Steve

 

[lesa]

Yes, Steve- I always plant glads!! They are another favorite! One of the few I routinely cut and bring in the house. Surprisingly, I have quite a few that winter over... I originally planted a few in the veggie garden- and didn't get them all dug. So, now every year, I have a pleasant surprise! I thought I was getting a black one this year- but it turned out to be a very dark red. One year I had tons of the little corms break off in my peat moss that I stored them in. I dumped the peat on the asparagus bed. Figured those little corms would just compost...What a lovely glad garden I had that year!

 

[Collector]

WOW Steve, and Rusty, Those are awesome looking flowers, i really like the names you have given them also. You make it sound like not that much work, but I know I could not grow them well, We tried ,We failed , Maybe down the road after I learn how to grow a bean plant LOL!