marynz
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Post by marynz on Oct 14, 2012 10:50:46 GMT
The plants in the biggest pots have been pinched out. The big pots have many special qualities. They don't dry out too fast when I am working crazy hours, and am too busy to water. The cat cannot knock them over. The little old lady who used to live down the street and steal our plants could not carry them. All the important stuff, really!
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Post by scrumpy on Oct 14, 2012 11:23:12 GMT
Oh, and the other thing is that reading about all your lovely cultivars over there which I have not seen before reminded me that I know a guy who has a dozen cultivars newly imported from England on the front page of his catalogue. One is Susan Gilliot, which I had put on my wish list after seeing it here. He also has Ruskin Bride. Currently, I am resisting the urge to ring him up and ask whether he has any in stock, but I am very excited about the possibility. If you can get them, be prepared for a quite compact plant for Susan Gilliott. They look as if they aren't growing, but all of a sudden stems appear out of nowhere. If you want a better white centre, cut them when they are about 2/3rd open, and let them develop in water. They can be a bit erratic throwing out laterals, so they may need a double stop to get the six laterals you need for them to be at their best. For Ruskin Bride, be prepared for a tall growing, early flowering plant, and to get the number of laterals you again need to do a double stop. They flower for ever. |
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Post by dcdahlia on Oct 14, 2012 11:40:06 GMT
Well the frosts we have had this week have blackened off the dahlias in the uncovered area so I have cut them down ready to be lifted next weekend.The covered area will be cut down and lifted the weekend after that as me and the wife are going away for a couple of days the first weekend in november (Without the daughter and grandchild this time).When the dahlias are all up I am going to keep myself busy (weather permitting) clearing away an area for a leek trench.I have been talked into entering the local working mens clubs leek club,mainly so I can enter some dahlias in the flower section.
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Post by Lou78W on Oct 14, 2012 11:58:55 GMT
Well the frosts we have had this week have blackened off the dahlias in the uncovered area so I have cut them down ready to be lifted next weekend.The covered area will be cut down and lifted the weekend after that as me and the wife are going away for a couple of days the first weekend in november (Without the daughter and grandchild this time).When the dahlias are all up I am going to keep myself busy (weather permitting) clearing away an area for a leek trench.I have been talked into entering the local working mens clubs leek club, mainly so I can enter some dahlias in the flower section. Yaay ;D  :Phhhhhhh |
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Post by Tel on Oct 14, 2012 13:26:23 GMT
20 litre pots  ....how big are the plants in that? My plants for planting out end up in 5" square pots, that hold about 1.5L of compost. Any spares are planted in the garden borders still in the pots.....you can get a good display that way, as the main feeding roots grow through the holes at the bottom, and get a nice tuber at the end of the season. If i plant out 20 plants of a variety, 8 of those will be left in their pots, i call them my dual purpose plants the blooms for showing and the tuber restricted in the pot for taking cuttings off the following year. That way i can fit 8 pot tubers in a seed tray on the heated bench.  |
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Post by Tel on Oct 14, 2012 13:28:08 GMT
Well the frosts we have had this week have blackened off the dahlias in the uncovered area so I have cut them down ready to be lifted next weekend.The covered area will be cut down and lifted the weekend after that as me and the wife are going away for a couple of days the first weekend in november (Without the daughter and grandchild this time).When the dahlias are all up I am going to keep myself busy (weather permitting) clearing away an area for a leek trench.I have been talked into entering the local working mens clubs leek club,mainly so I can enter some dahlias in the flower section. Checked mine on the allotment today after overnight frost, minor damage, but another frost forecast for tonight.  |
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marynz
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Post by marynz on Oct 14, 2012 18:30:49 GMT
...I have been talked into entering the local working mens clubs leek club,mainly so I can enter some dahlias in the flower section. You can take this association between leeks and Dahlias further, should you so wish. Planting leeks around your Dahlias is popular in companion planting circles, apparently. I find the photos of the beds quite entertaining, actually. Edna C., Edna C., Edna C., leek! |
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marynz
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Post by marynz on Oct 14, 2012 23:51:30 GMT
I have a collarette. That was not actually part of the grand plan. Last time I was rummaging through the tubers, the club president suggested I take a Mary Eveline. I said no thank you, because I did not really plan to grow collarettes at present. She told me it was in one of the classes I was after, so I took it. I'm newish to Dahlias, so I thought I must have it wrong. I am now wondering whether she knew perfectly well what it was but was keen for me to enter more classes in this season's shows! I have looked it up and it's definitely a collarette. It's the top one in this picture below. I think that is Keith Hammett's Yella Fella beneath it. Both are New Zealand cultivars.  |
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Post by Tel on Oct 15, 2012 6:56:27 GMT
I grow Mary Eveline, because i like it. Not for showing though.
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Post by Lou78W on Oct 15, 2012 6:59:43 GMT
Me too....but mine went on strike this year, and I didn't get one bloom  ....ah well....there's always next year ;D |
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marynz
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Post by marynz on Oct 15, 2012 7:12:36 GMT
People do show it here, as you will have spotted. I only had one or two forgotten Dahlias in corners until last year, when I suddenly realised that they were dirt cheap, easy to grow and had lots of flowers, because I needed some colour in the garden for a February function. I got some tubers from the Dahlia Society in November, and really only showed my blooms to say thank you to them. I am still learning, obviously, but I think we do go for variety more in our shows, and less for proven winners.
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marynz
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Post by marynz on Oct 15, 2012 7:14:54 GMT
Me too....but mine went on strike this year, and I didn't get one bloom ....ah well....there's always next year ;D Mine had better not do that, now that I have made space for it. It is pretending to be a herb, in the herb garden with the poms. Good luck with next year! |
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Post by Lou78W on Oct 15, 2012 11:06:58 GMT
Thanks ;D...and good luck with your shows. We have had such a crazy year weatherwise....I'm just pleased I wasn't showing this year |
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Post by Tel on Oct 15, 2012 11:31:25 GMT
Looks like we will be frost free for the rest of this week, so the dahlia's will not be lifted this week. I am glad really, still a few seedlings that have not bloomed yet.
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marynz
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Post by marynz on Oct 16, 2012 4:05:28 GMT
Are their buds showing colour? I do hope they beat the frosts.
I am going outside to pot on my seedlings and to distribute predatory wasps and mites shortly. I hope this wind does not blow my wasps to somebody else's place before they find my aphids!
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:Phhhhhhh
....how big are the plants in that?
....ah well....there's always next year ;D
