Arlene: That's very true! Well have to compare what blooms.

Does anyone know - I had gotten an A la mode from Dans and his height for the plant said 3.5 ft yet when I was reading somewhere else it said 5ft. Now after planting is of course when I read the contradictory heights and of course it's mixed in by 3-4 foot ones. Ah well, if it is tall it will just stand out (much like my tall family).

It's difficult to get accuracy for heights. If you planned for it being 5' and it ended up 2.5', it would be lost.

Scarlet- I grew A la Mode for a few years, and it was always around 4 ft. Arlene is spot on, it is difficult to get accuracy for height. I trust some vendors more than others when it comes to that statistic.

Often times, if a variety is listed as really tall or really short, I compare with other websites to try to determine what to expect. I do know that most Hollyhill dahlias are pretty tall. However, knowing that...I purchased a new intro last year, and planted it in the front of my 'rock star' bed. It was listed as 4 ft. It grew to be 6.5 feet and was taller than anything else in that bed. Sometimes we just live and learn.

ScarletTricycle said:Lucius: looks good! Is Croatia lovely now?

Yes.

hey all,

My plants are all coming along, this is what I did this year:
Started in pots between 3/20-5/10, just popped them all in as they arrived and kept them in the warm, sunny cold frame.
Planted out in a new bed the last week of May, 90% had good growth with the last to arrive just showing sprouts, eyes.
My new bed is leaf/mushroom compost over a double layer of cardboard that had been sitting for about 2 months before planting. It has great drainage, so good that I was having a little trouble getting enough water to the plants
This week I got the irrigation finished as I was waiting for our plumber to make a repair to the faucets, I used the same 12" spacing drip tubing as I used last year and the coverage is great, very targeted considering I plant close together.
Today I am adding a light layer of triple shredded mulch to cover the tubes and help retain some moisture. If the bed wasn't so new and drying out so easily, I wouldn't use mulch but I think they need it.

I put stakes in with planting for all plants 4' or taller, my husband dislikes the stick farm look but liked the flowers so he'll live.

I hilled the dahlias a few weeks after planting but decided not to pinch this year. Last year, I found the branching off the pinch points to be heavy and harder to stake/control. They frequently broke off or damaged the main stalk. As I'm growing for my own enjoyment and have not dealt with a lack of blooms or short stems, I glad I'm not doing it. I would prefer solid single stem plants for the way my garden is.

I don't remove side buds expect on the Cafes because it helps make bigger blooms and longer stems since they can sometimes have short stem lengths.

When the blooms kick in, I go out almost every single morning to cut, deadhead and look for stems to tie up. If I stay on top of it, it doesn't take too long.

In early September, I didn't cut for a week so I could get photos of everything full of flowers and then after photos, cut over 180 stems! Photo of a design made with about half of them, I didn't have a big enough container.

As for the growers pinching, yes I've seen the scary blade that Bear Creek uses to top the plants. They just run them over. They also have this custom thing that hills their rows like cement blocks so that they don't stake. I taught a design workshop there last year and got to attend the growing workshop.

My David Howard died!it sprouted nicely, I covered it again. All its neighbours are leafy so I dug it up and found goop! Whyyyyyyy!??! And they are all in the same bed. So sad.

Hiya: sorry about the dahlia! I have two I'm watching in hopes they straighten on out myself. I'm exercising my limited patience how many do you have going yet?

Sulli: you have been totally busy with your beds. How exciting to have to done and see them sprouting on up. I went out to check mine yesterday, I have some zinnias also near by and here was a scabiosa daisy with a bloom. Did I mention it's only on a 6" stem. Well I'm glad it's an ambitious little guy. You'll have to post photos as you go along!

Melissa: you have a rock star area? Fantastic. What are the ones you have here? Are they good producers or lovely blooms? What makes your rockstar definition?

Lucius: good going! Part of my family is from Slovenia so your area of the world interests me. I have never been, would like to get there someday. Good luck w your dahlia! Do you plan to get more next year?

Hello all!

Patiently sitting here trying not to water, letting things dry out a bit In the dahlia bed. I'm going to leave a la mode right where they are at. That's just fine, because last year I had my ones I got in a Walmart dinnerplate bag - only one was a dinner plate, so I had all heights intermingled. It was ok, just made picking blooms a bit more interesting as I'm so totally not very graceful.

Is anyone else's area getting a lot more people positive w the covid? In my area the cases are growing quite a bit.

Went today w the kiddos and we picked two flats of strawberries, the berries were small as the rain deluges don't make for big berries. They were still tasty (couldn't sample as we picked but sure did as I was washing them) and I have them now finished and moved to the freezer. We'll have some for dessert tonight as well. Love my berries! Next up will be blueberries. Trying to pick and observe social distancing is quite interesting. Some people follow the growers directions but most do not. Interesting times.

Dang Sulli, you have been busy!!! Where did you snap that fantastic picture of dahlias and the photo bombing tortie cat? I love it!

Scarlet- yes I have a small Rock Star bed. I usually tuck expensive/hard to acquire tubers that I only have one of into that bed, as I've had very few tubers rot there. I mixed it up this year, and tucked in a few of my own overwintered tubers, mostly ones that got shaded out last year, or ones I fear could disappear completely.
A few names in there: AC Susi, Clearview Peachy, Crazy 4 Chris, Sunrise Surprise, Hollyhill Clowning Around, Brittany Rey, Pink Giraffe, AC Barney, Wyn's Radiant Star, Hollyhill Black Cherry, Nutley Sunrise, Hapet Daydream.

It is FINALLY supposed to rain/storm at some point tomorrow. Temps in the 90s for days without rain since last Tuesday is driving me bonkers! It is too early for me to always have the garden hose in my hand.

Covid cases are on the rise here, too. There was a lot of protesting and some destructive crap here in Omaha, and we even got a curfew for a few days. Probably didn't help matters. I love going to Menards, though, as they still require a face mask. I still try to keep my distance from other people, as I don't know who they've been around, plus I like animals and flowers more than most people anyway. Such a strange time we are all living in...

Melissa: thank you for sharing your rockstars! I can see why. I looked up each of the ones listed as I sat here and had coffee and trying to clear my head from sleep. I particularly liked the images I saw of giraffe and clowning around. Very pretty and I'm sure that bed must make you smile extra when it's all in bloom! I've added some of these at my look at again list when dahlia sales start again - especially those raspberry pinks.

Yes I hear you on the masks as menards is still asking us to wear them. I don mine at the other stores too and sure you get the stink eye from some not wearing them. I also don't mind if it helps the next person out. I have a child who we have been going to clinic twice weekly and even there some of the patients have been "I'm not wearing the mask or using the hand sanitizer" to the point they have posted signage that security/LEOs will be called of failure to comply. Especially there - just help the next person out.

Arlene: are you the lady who tops her stick garden w pretty drawer pulls? Where do you find yours? Hobby lobby? Antique stores? If this is you - what a nice touch!

AM: my 2021 dahlia list to look at adding too is growing. I'm not a pink girl and this year I've been enamored by the hotter pinks. What's up w that? Now here's a question, do you just open more space up as you find new dahlias you'd like to add and your short on current bed space? I didn't have issue weeding out some shorties that I wasn't swooning over after last years bloom, and of course the rotten ones, but I wonder how you all deal w the additions you want to add? I think part of my issue is the plants size vs the other flowers I have in my beds and I want to make sure they have space to grow.

I think the hubs is afraid he'll be digging new beds all over the place. I'm already plotting a new iris bed. I just remind him it's less for him to mow and more for me to weed. He's somewhat skeptical - hah. I guess in the end, having flowers decorate my space makes me happy and I'm more then agreeable to add to it. I already told him in the last week I've decided our yard is too small. He just shook his head, he knows how I move after a morning of weeding. Let's just say I'm kind of creaky.

Happy day all!

LOL Melissa, that's Muppet the toothless, laziest mouser that ever was. She's my mouser I rescued for my former floral studio, lived at the office until my rent got too high and I moved my business home. The sunroom where that photo is from is my home office and photo studio. It has great light for filming. I always did a ton of photography with my floral work and last year started making videos.

I feel weird posting links because I joined here just as a member, not to promote my channel but if anyone wants to visit youtube you can tree mail me and I'll send you a link.

Yes, Scarlet, I am the one who tops my copper pipe stakes with chest knobs.


I've also used wine stoppers in the garden.


After experiencing one eye injury, I had to find a solution to prevent another accident.

What a thoughtful and lovely way to protect yourself! And a reminder to be safe in our pursuits. I hope your eye healed well, once I got attacked by my Christmas tree - long needle, I couldn't have thought ones eye would have so much pain associated and that was just a scratched cornea. Eeez.

Where do you find all the pretties?

Yes, a good reminder to be cautious.

Hobby Lobby and Pier 1 (now in the midst of closing).

I dug up one of the questionable ones, the tuber that the eye sprouted from (one of two) was shriveled and had no additional roots. It was one of my kelvins. I do hope the other continues on growing. The other two I'm watching would be my ginger willo as it just looks wimpy and wind tossed and the large red one w no name. I had two other tubers of it w/sprouts left in my crate so I stuck them in as though there isn't anything about remarkable about this one, it's a very nice red and a prolific bloomer. Otherwise everyone else is looking good. Storms tonight, so we'll see what morning brings.

Very pretty! Do you plan to get more dahlias for next years planting? Are there certain colors you enjoy?

I would love to have a lot of dahlias but i don't have enough free space.
My garden is small.

You make do with what you got and make it as beautiful as you can. It's lovely.

Rain, rain and more rain last night. It got so dark and black out at 8:15 and the sun was till trying to stream through. The winds kicked up and it poured. I saw this morn .65-1.25" of rain in the area. Let's just say the dahlias will not be watered by me anytime soon. More rain possible today. Dahlias will be hopping in their canoes.

For those in warmer locales, are you seeing buds or further blooms?

I do have a quick question - I have two dahlias that did not send up straight stems, rather they are a tad corkscrewy (I have a tomato plant w the same issue) so they tend to be kind of floppy. Would you begin tying them up to help straighten them out some? This is my first time seeing that as last year all were fairly straight. Everyone is staked already and I'd like to know if there is a best way to tie them up. TIA

I'd tie them up. Anything is better than having them flop.