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Post by Moonlight on Aug 30, 2013 22:30:24 GMT
Novice Cup classes
Vegetables any variety from list - Should have some tomatoes 
Vase of mixed flowers may include shrubs - Whatever I can find in the garden on the morning of the show (If there is anything worth cutting)
1 Stem of Dahlia or Chrysanthemum - Hope so! 
1 plant in any container - Well I was thinking of taking my Paula Jane fushia but the leaves look a bit pale, might give it some tomato maxicrop seaweed feed?
1 hanging basket - they were lovely but then I went on holiday... weren't as good when I got back.
Fruit any variety - looking at blackberries from my brambles
Potatoes, 4 any variety - My Pink Firs Apple 'crop' that I have 'harvested' today.Fun, Fun, Fun, I'd say that I can't wait but it will mean that the school holiday will be over which is sad. School holidays have whizzed by. Of the 'grown up' dahlia classes, if I have any of these I'll be entering them as well. The real pain with the classes is that we are supposed to use 1 variety to each vase. Poms - I need 5 - possibly5 Large poms - highly unlikely (majority have green centres) currently have 3 out of 2 plants. So highly unlikely.
3 Miniature or Small ball - Fingers crossed Downham Royal 1st choice, Jomanda 2nd choice and Mary's Jomanda but less of a possibility as quite a large number of green centres. Maybe even my Red Balloons.3 Miniature / Small semi cactus / cactus - will my Weston Pirates behave? or will I have any half decent Weston Spanish dancers? (because haven't rated the ones that I have grown this far)
3 Medium cactus / semi cactus - Eastwood Moonlight? Don't think that I will have any in full bloom. Won't be Ruskin Bride (Not fussed on), Peach Delight's stems really suffered in the flood. Lovely dahlia buy not nice straight stems. Maybe Staleen Condesa but it will be a shame to cut such lovely tall stems and then check the shape of the blooms and their size. Can't see what they really look like up close because they are too tall.
1 Small cactus or semi cactus - as above really just dependent on Weston Spanish Dancer
It's a shame that they don't have a single miniature or joint size classification miniature or small (as in the vase of 3).1 Medium cactus / semi cactus - as above
3 of any type of dahlia....?
So between the Novice and the Dahlia classes I should be able to enter something.
Then it is the girlies but I'll add those later.
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Post by whisker on Aug 31, 2013 14:27:06 GMT
Well done, Moonlight. Do you have plans re storing them?
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Post by lesley on Aug 31, 2013 15:50:12 GMT
Moonlight are your Chrysanthemums flowering ?? did you plant them in the garden or are they in pots, |
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Post by Moonlight on Aug 31, 2013 18:03:11 GMT
Moonlight are your Chrysanthemums flowering ?? did you plant them in the garden or are they in pots,
When I read up on growing them it sounded very complicated. Especially the types and timings. What with everything else that I was growing, as a 1st timer it was a good thing. Dahlia wise I originally was going to get 1 Downham Royal tuber... then I saw Happy Halloween on the website and thought 'Oh I like the colour'.... Then when I went to order the tubers HH said isn't it cheaper to buy 3 instead of 1 (Something he really regrets...). Then my Dad asked me to order some dahlias from US and then I saw on the website Candy Jayne and wanted to get that... they didn't have enough stock so I got Clearview Jenny + another + a freebie................. Then I complained about the 1st lot of tubers that I ordered and got another 3 tubers of each of the 2 varieties.....
So it is a jolly good thing that I didn't try growing Chrysanthemums.
Maybe one day but not yet a while I haven't got enough space for the dahlias and tomato plants that I have got now
and I've started collecting seeds from my favourites.......
Well you never know and I wouldn't be my Father's daughter if I didn't want to try and grow seedlings.
You probably can guess the varieties but even if you couldn't it is dead easy to know which ones I won't be growing next year. |
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Post by Moonlight on Aug 31, 2013 18:06:07 GMT
Well done, Moonlight. Do you have plans re storing them? 
I'll do a better reply bit later on. |
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Post by Moonlight on Aug 31, 2013 23:12:44 GMT
Well done, Moonlight. Do you have plans re storing them?
Luckily for me, I don't have that many plants, so there shouldn't be that much digging compared to everyone else here, I think. I also know that you don't need to clean a way all the soil because the more you mess with the tubers, the more potential there is that they could be damaged.
The varieties that I want to keep tubers for next year are: Eastwood Moonlight & Downham Royal for obvious reasons. Weston Pirate because it is my favourite but I like all the Westons that I've grown.
I want to keep Red Balloon tuber because I love the deep red of the flower, so I will want to try and save that tuber. I'd like to save the Peach Delight tuber I like the colour and shape of the petals it is just a pity that it got ruined by the flood downpour when it was at such a tender stage and it has ruined the stems. I do really like Staleen Condesa but I think that I need to conceed that anything over 7 foot is more than I can cope with. Dad's going to be growing it next year. The bees need altitude training to go and pollenate that one!
I don't know the best place for them to live once they have been dug up. I am sure that I will be told where the best place will be for us. We have a shed and an unheated greenhouse and no garage or basement. I don't actually know what the best container to put them in either.
Just when I think I've sort got the hang of things, the seasons change and the life cycle of the dahlia moves on.
Lots of questions, I'll ask Dad when I see him next.
Yet again I've rambled whisker, just goes to show that basically I don't know what I am doing!
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Post by whisker on Sept 1, 2013 14:44:36 GMT
Thanks, Moonlight! I was referring to your wheel-barrow of potatoes. I can't advise on storing dahlias. except for what I've heard on gardening programmes - that you store them in a dry cool place such as a garage in boxes filled with sand or peat - something like that!
Having been brought up in the country, I remember we used to store our potatoes in pits dug into the ground at the top of our yard - "haggard", as it was called then. A deep trench was dug out, lined with straw and the potatoes put in carefully. and stacked up into a long ridge. That would be covered with more straw and topped with soil to keep the spuds dry.
They would last through the winter right up to sowing time in March of next year. They had to be "turned" once or twice during that time, which meant uncovering them and "sorting" them, throwing away any rotten ones. If they were not sorted, the whole lot would rot.
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Post by Moonlight on Sept 1, 2013 15:45:45 GMT
Thanks, Moonlight! I was referring to your wheel-barrow of potatoes. I can't advise on storing dahlias. except for what I've heard on gardening programmes - that you store them in a dry cool place such as a garage in boxes filled with sand or peat - something like that! Having been brought up in the country, I remember we used to store our potatoes in pits dug into the ground at the top of our yard - "haggard", as it was called then. A deep trench was dug out, lined with straw and the potatoes put in carefully. and stacked up into a long ridge. That would be covered with more straw and topped with soil to keep the spuds dry. They would last through the winter right up to sowing time in March of next year. They had to be "turned" once or twice during that time, which meant uncovering them and "sorting" them, throwing away any rotten ones. If they were not sorted, the whole lot would rot. 
Hay Hoe.
Actually at the moment I am doing the worse thing possible, they are uncovered in the wheelbarrow in the lounge (but this time not my purple one). The girls and I had done a good job of picking the potatoes out with our fingers and unsurprisingly got absolutely filthy. Fairy Pink Wellies got a tad over enthusiastic and put a couple of handfuls of compost in when we had done so well not to. Then things got very rushed at the end when I discovered that we had less than an hour to shower and feed the girlies before Pirate Yellow Wellies had to leave to go to a party!
I am very foolish, only a mad woman would choose that moment to dig out her potatoes.
They are sitting in the wheelbarrow waiting for me to take a photo and I even considered weighing my 'crop'. Indecision hit and haven't done anything else other than look at them because they are in the lounge (opposite our settee but not quite next our TV ).
Sort of plan is to take them all out and then pick the best ones for the show. I asked HH if he would help and he said pick out your best 10 and then I'll have a look. We need 4 for the Novice class. After that I guess I need to wash and cover them up. The show is next weekend. Fingers crossed.
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Post by Tel on Sept 1, 2013 17:46:56 GMT
Thanks, Moonlight! I was referring to your wheel-barrow of potatoes. I can't advise on storing dahlias. except for what I've heard on gardening programmes - that you store them in a dry cool place such as a garage in boxes filled with sand or peat - something like that! Having been brought up in the country, I remember we used to store our potatoes in pits dug into the ground at the top of our yard - "haggard", as it was called then. A deep trench was dug out, lined with straw and the potatoes put in carefully. and stacked up into a long ridge. That would be covered with more straw and topped with soil to keep the spuds dry. They would last through the winter right up to sowing time in March of next year. They had to be "turned" once or twice during that time, which meant uncovering them and "sorting" them, throwing away any rotten ones. If they were not sorted, the whole lot would rot.
Hay Hoe.
Actually at the moment I am doing the worse thing possible, they are uncovered in the wheelbarrow in the lounge (but this time not my purple one). The girls and I had done a good job of picking the potatoes out with our fingers and unsurprisingly got absolutely filthy. Fairy Pink Wellies got a tad over enthusiastic and put a couple of handfuls of compost in when we had done so well not to. Then things got very rushed at the end when I discovered that we had less than an hour to shower and feed the girlies before Pirate Yellow Wellies had to leave to go to a party!
I am very foolish, only a mad woman would choose that moment to dig out her potatoes.
They are sitting in the wheelbarrow waiting for me to take a photo and I even considered weighing my 'crop'. Indecision hit and haven't done anything else other than look at them because they are in the lounge (opposite our settee but not quite next our TV).
Sort of plan is to take them all out and then pick the best ones for the show. I asked HH if he would help and he said pick out your best 10 and then I'll have a look. We need 4 for the Novice class. After that I guess I need to wash and cover them up. The show is next weekend. Fingers crossed.
All dahlia growers suffer from some sort of insanity, so you are not on your own.  |
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Post by Moonlight on Sept 1, 2013 20:43:39 GMT
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Post by Moonlight on Sept 1, 2013 21:01:10 GMT
Thanks, Moonlight! I was referring to your wheel-barrow of potatoes. I can't advise on storing dahlias. except for what I've heard on gardening programmes - that you store them in a dry cool place such as a garage in boxes filled with sand or peat - something like that! Having been brought up in the country, I remember we used to store our potatoes in pits dug into the ground at the top of our yard - "haggard", as it was called then. A deep trench was dug out, lined with straw and the potatoes put in carefully. and stacked up into a long ridge. That would be covered with more straw and topped with soil to keep the spuds dry.
They would last through the winter right up to sowing time in March of next year. They had to be "turned" once or twice during that time, which meant uncovering them and "sorting" them, throwing away any rotten ones. If they were not sorted, the whole lot would rot.
Hay Hoe.
Actually at the moment I am doing the worse thing possible, they are uncovered in the wheelbarrow in the lounge (but this time not my purple one). The girls and I had done a good job of picking the potatoes out with our fingers and unsurprisingly got absolutely filthy. Fairy Pink Wellies got a tad over enthusiastic and put a couple of handfuls of compost in when we had done so well not to. Then things got very rushed at the end when I discovered that we had less than an hour to shower and feed the girlies before Pirate Yellow Wellies had to leave to go to a party!
I am very foolish, only a mad woman would choose that moment to dig out her potatoes.
They are sitting in the wheelbarrow waiting for me to take a photo and I even considered weighing my 'crop'. Indecision hit and haven't done anything else other than look at them because they are in the lounge (opposite our settee but not quite next our TV).
Sort of plan is to take them all out and then pick the best ones for the show. I asked HH if he would help and he said pick out your best 10 and then I'll have a look. We need 4 for the Novice class. After that I guess I need to wash and cover them up. The show is next weekend. Fingers crossed.
There are a few more but I've put some aside for the show and there were a few that I was a tad suspicious of possibly going bad. Better to be out than in with the others and rot them all. The ones that I have put away for the show have been gently rubbed with my fingers like all the others but I haven''t washed them. Derek mentioned in his Potato guidance that he leaves a week for the skin to hardened a little.
I don't know whether or not to leave them alone for a few days or wash them now. I've got kitchen towel at the bottom of the wheelbarrow and a tin foil lid. My show ones are wrapped in kitchen towel, then foil and finally I've hid them in a cereal boc (Coco Pops, in case anyone was wondering )
I did write a warning that I was mad on the 1st page of this Diary....
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Post by Moonlight on Sept 1, 2013 22:52:16 GMT
In my inexperienced opinion I've had a couple of sports on my Jomandas, the 1st was on my Jomanda, a different shade of orange but the stem snapped on that one, so that wasn't ever going to be a keeper.
My other is on my Mary's Jomanda, it has come up 3 times the same colour.
You can see amongst all the Mary's Jomanda a smaller lilac pink bloom.
The other 2 there were not any near shoots to take a cutting with and this one is even later in the season, so no chance of keeping but I thought that I would share. If that part of the plant has mutated, might be a different factor in the random lottery of seeds. Might try and collect some seeds. Might not. Knowing me I'll either end with 1 or 2 seedlings or 200 singles. Dad would hate that, especially as I'm not like him, I can't just pull up a flower just because it doesn't have a good enough shape / bloom. If he had had it his way he'd have dumped the freebie Colorado Classic but I wanted to grow it because I felt sorry for it, sent all the way from the US and straight in the green recycle bin. As it is now, I don't want it but Pirate Yellow Wellies likes it......................
Been round Mum and Dad's to collect the girlies after their day out. He had more gaps, so more in the recycle bin but others won't be.
He has gone a love bright red dahlia, medium not one of his seedlings but really strong Pirate red.
That's the problem with dahlias, you go to the shops with a shopping wish list and come out with a Golden Ticket of Possibilities.
No more updates from me tonight but tomorrow I want to show you photos of my man in action. Doing the sort of gardening that he likes.
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Post by Moonlight on Sept 2, 2013 6:07:25 GMT
Probably doesn't make sense. What I mean is 200 single headed, wishy washy blooms, rather than a full headed bloom like a ball or a pom etc.
When I said to Dad that I would like a Pirate and Downham Royal mix he said that if you did that you would probably get the worst from each variety rather than either of their good ones... Well we will see if I get any seeds. Mind you an even worse mix would be anything with a Happy Halloween DNA and they are down that end of the garden. Gosh then there is the Colorado Classic. Turning into a horror story there.
The seeds that I have collected are from one of the Downham Royals out the front. I have only 2 plants and they are in pots. Dad had to explain to me that the seeds won't be Downham Royal clones but a mixture.
Dad grows dahlias with a particular characteristic that he is looking for away from others. Pity I don't have the same amount of room but then again HH would think that that was a very good thing.
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Post by lesley on Sept 2, 2013 7:14:15 GMT
Hi Moonlight, What the one right in the middle of the last picture the mauve one with a yellow centre  lovely dahlias and pictures. |
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Post by Moonlight on Sept 2, 2013 7:26:11 GMT
Hi Moonlight, What the one right in the middle of the last picture the mauve one with a yellow centre lovely dahlias and pictures. |
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lovely dahlias and pictures. 
