It is finally starting to warm up, here at 57°F
I've one Dahlia gone rogue, that wants to sprout. While I've another pot full of other plants sitting right on top of that potted Dahlia..
I'm almost too reluctant to even remove the pot on top, for fear of what I'll end up seeing has happened beneath it.

Poor thing looks as if it had been left in a bag for months with no light, forgotten on some store shelf as though it were the end of April, instead of February.

If I'd have been trying to make it grow instead, it probably would not have even sprouted yet !
I couldn't possibly have left it outside this winter, (even in my zone,) as part of the back yard looks more like some "mud pit" for Monster Trucks & it would have turned to mush.
With my luck, I just can't win, for losing !

When I first came to Canada from the UK I didn't realize that in my new Zone 5 I had to dig up dahlias, so I left them in. As luck would have it, because they were planted almost against the basement wall the heat that escaped kept them in good shape over winter. I don't do that now but only because I don't plant dahlias against my basement wall here!
Does anyone grow dahlia coccinea var. palmeri? It has wonderful ferny foliage and single red/orange flowers. I have a couple but they seem particularly late to come out of hibernation, compared to most of my other cvs. As for sprouting early - Moonfire is really good at that, like early January I usually pinch off the early shoots and sometimes treat them as cuttings to make more More I don't need.

Val! I can't say I know of the specific ones you speak of, I'm a newbie with dahlias as this is year 3 for me. I'll have to look them up. I'd have to guess Canadian zones are similar to ours in the states. So you and I have something in common. How many dahlias do you grow?

Shawn: enjoy the warm up and the dahlia who's sprouted. Out of the 10 weak ones I potted up I've got 8 with tiny shoots above the dirt tonight. I have two that aren't sure if they are dahlias so they are just sitting in the dirt not sending out roots nor shoots. I'll have to look back in my journal and see if they are just cantankerous and late growers.

AM: it's been a nice warm up here! Mostly high 30s this week and the snow is melting. I'll be sure to arm myself w mealy worms if we get a freak later snow storm as the last two winters the robins had returned and we had 10 inches+ of snow with each and they don't eat seed. Grapes and mealy worms. Two years ago that storm ended up killing off so many robins that even the humane societies were taking them in for warm up and care.

Yes, I've 8 dahlias who have sent up tiny sprouts. I may take a few off of the ones who were just poor growers last year and others I'll just let go on their own like my Lady Liberty. She's super finnicky and maybe in getting her going now will allow for earlier bloom then the three days before first frost.

Hope everyone is well!

Welcome, to the Dahlia Forum, Valerie. These past two months placed 9th for record precipitation amounts, so if I'd left them out, most likely they'd have turned to mush. (This yard drains very poorly, & doesn't help.) Besides snowing last week, & barely defrosting.

Have you ever tried to find out the locality for the habitat of your Dahlia species ? As I think most grow hybrids, though I could be mistaken. Once you get habitat locality, then research all aspects, including: latitude, elevation, climate, or even habitat images, for clues.
Even "exposure", such as North facing slope, for an example.
Translating Foreign language pages, is much easier now, also. Sorry I'm not of much more help, than that.

Scarlet, I think it actually made it into the upper 50's today ! That poor Dahlia had grown much more than I'd expected. Except for having been forced, nearly flat, & no light. I will have to gradually expose to any sunlight. Yes, that bad !

Lovely Lana poking her nose out to the dirt!

I thought I'd spur you all on to get your dahlia thoughts moving.

Scarlet - are you dahlias just poking up inside?? I'm in Zone 4b but I don't bring them out of cold storage till the end of March usually so they're ready for a mid to late May planting. Is that too late?
Re. dahlia coccinea, it is a species that is or was native to Mexico so hot/well drained site I guess, which is pretty much what I give it here.
Apart from this species I grow mostly dark leaved cultivars - Moonfire, Twinings After Eight, the Bishops of Llandaff, Oxford, Canterbury and York, and some of their seedlings (the heap of tops cut off prior to winter storage, usually result in a few seedlings the following year as I don't compost them straight away)


This is Moonfire - always a good doer and first 'out of the box' in the Spring.

Val: no you are fine when you plant yours. I'm just ahead of the game because I've been loosing these tubers at each of my monthly checks and/or they struggled last year and didn't produce much tuberwise so I thought I'd try taking some cuttings and root those and see if I have success. The rest of mine I won't pot up yet.

That is a pretty bloom. I'll have to read on it.

Can I ask: I get the magazine English Garden from the library and I'm always in awe of the gardens they feature. Are all English gardens so lush and full looking? I work at achieving such here, but no dice, sometimes I feel mine will never fill in so nicely. Maybe I'm just impatient and have not given enough time for growth or have enough plants and maybe they also have landscape people helping them plan and execute. These are some of my garden goals and figured I would ask if there is a magical secret to these type of English gardens I am missing out on. I'm open to suggestions.

I look forward to seeing your gardens this summer as I am everyone else's. I love seeing the colors and combinations everyone plants and of course then my list of would like to have gets longer.

Valerie, I looked up a few things about Dahlia coccinea var. palmeri. At a vendor near San Francisco Bay, it made mention that tubers could be safely shipped, through May.
Perhaps it originated from a rather cool, high elevation in a mountain area of MX. The tubers being of smaller size & yes, later to start. (I've no idea if it can be "forced", to begin growth any earlier, or if it just risks rot.)

Another site mentioned that is /was nearly indistinguishable from your 'Bishop of Llandaff', (Hybridized in 1927 ?) While I'd imagine, you are easily able to differentiate the differences between the two.
Although I quickly noticed that the Bishop is a semi-double flowered one, & award winning, too. While looking in Wiki, saw the D. coccinea has numerous synonyms, I couldn't find the locality type for any of them...

I would suspect there are a number of herbarium specimens kept somewhere, under at least some, if not nearly almost all of those synonym names.
.
Apparently the "Bishop" is a good parent for dark leaved types.
I gather, it could be grown in a fairly good sized pot, if you've a good sized clump, with the pot being of a complimentary color, to the quite deeply dark foliage. Top dressing with compost was recommended, & I suspect, it actually prefers cooler summers. HTH

Scarlet, unfortunately my potted Dahlia is much farther along with growth, & due to leaving another pot above it, looks completely unnatural. I'll have to keep it shaded until it has started to get well on its' way with photosynthesis. (I really ought to have disturbed the tubers, prior to storing in the pot, & failing to check on it at the start of this month, would have been best. As I didn't notice a thing, around about mid- January.

Next, I may possibly try to carefully trim a few tips, or just attempt to eventually cover up, lower growth by lightly mulching it.
I can't believe I've nearly done the very same thing, going on the second year with this one, now.

Shawn - this was the first time I've actually searched for d. coccinea after buying it many years ago and I'm sorry to say most of the websites have it wrong I am waiting for Admin to 'organize' that dahlia entry then I will post some (reliable) pictures but in the meantime here is one, with permission from Avon Bulbs (UK)
It is a species so no, cannot and is not a cv of Bishop of Llandaff


Thanks for the reassurance Scarlet

Scarlet - follow up to 'are all English gardens lush and full looking?' - no, not all, but the gardens of people who are serious about gardening are full & lush. Remember England is mostly Zones 9 - 11 and in areas pretty wet! Here in my 4b garden I would challenge anyone, if our gardens were compared, to pick out the English garden from my Canadian garden - with a few cultivar exceptions of course There are advantages this side of the pond - we can grow tomatoes outside
I have never even considered help - paid or otherwise - so it is definitely doable. Perhaps as you suggested you don't plant close enough or you allow more space than they grow over the next few years. I have very shallow soil over clay, don't fertilize and usually don't water. I do mulch when I have it, to keep moisture in, the weeds away/down but also to hide the cracks in the dirt when it gets very hot and dry
I hope to post some more 360 degree pics when it warms up.

Valerie: when you mentioned their zones it dawned on me that the Isles were warmer. Heck when I was in Southern Ireland on my honeymoon we saw palm trees. Not sure if that was common but I should have recalled if they could have those growing then yes, indeed warmer.

They are lovely to look at in the magazines and give me lots of ideas and future goals. I tend to leave some extra room for spread. I have been blessed w super sandy soil - great for weeding and still a learning game what grows well in it. I've been doing a compost heap in earnest to help benefit my soil. It seemed to work well with the dahlia area last year and really kept the weeds tamped down.

Look forward to your gardens!

Thanks for setting me straight on that species, Valerie.
I'd only recently even seen one species, (on a blog,) that had white blooms.

Just goes to show, you can't believe everything you read on the Net. I may have looked up Dahlia coccinea, though now I do see the very different foliage.
I wonder if it can even still be found in habitat, anymore.
I'd figured nearly about all, had been collected from the wild, by now & that most were then hybridized.
It's nice to see an actual species still in existence !
Those leaves, really are something else, entirely different. Quite stunning.
I ought to have kept that in mind, since you had mentioned it. (I tend to forget, so quickly.)

Valerie, I had probably long considered Dahlia to be some mix, of variabilis, or something rather generic type sounding name like that . That it just sort of covered about all of them.

My search results aren't always the best, since "Google" slowly began to become more (or should I say, often times, less "improved", & more reduced.)
I think in about a week, they'll turn it off, to work on the " cable".

I did find Dahlis campanulata seeds, I think located Montreal, is rareexoticseeds.com or could be seed, without the extra 's". (I always think I'll recall, & then can't !)

I did find a mention of D. coccinea in Cuicatlan Valley in Mexico, (& possibly growing into Guatemala) as some may have found the tuber to their liking, as an "edible, though I'm quite certain yours is more enjoyed, & pleasing to be viewed instead of consumed !

There were some other "wild" types Dahlia though I wasn't certain if you were interested in them, or not.

Apparently most of the wild forms are more popular, & possibly more readily available in the U.K.(Or, from Thompson & Morgan) offered as a seed pkt. of various mixed species.
I should think they'll offer T. & M. seeds in Canada. Possibly at Canadian Tire, or else maybe through mail order.

Mostly we use dahlia addict, to search for tubers of numerous cultivars, from quite a variety of vendors in the U.S.

Yes Shawn - quite a lovely and distinct dahlia; apart from the foliage it is very woody by season end. Avon Bulbs grows it all year round in their gardens as it is hardier than the standard dahlia cvs. and apparently it does seed around for them though mine do not yet

Perhaps they hand pollinate it, with a small brush. Unless it requires two different plants, in order to produce seeds..

I'm not certain which species are listed as being in the packet of "wild" Dahlia species, offered by Thompson & Morgan (I'm quite sure they're collected from cultivated plants, & not truly from plants, in the wild)
There did seem to be another U.K. seed vendor, though may not be as simply mail ordered, & sent to Canada, as with T. & M.

I've got 9 out of my 10 I planted with small sprouts emerging! Fantastic! Including the one I marked as unknown as I'm not sure who or what it was as it was laying by itself when I was dividing and did not bloom all season.

I did a walk through the yard, I say I still have about 6" of very wet crusty snow left to melt. Three different times my phone has chimed at me a snow warnings and the amounts and times for snow have changed. Now it's moved to Sunday and it's traces nothing measurable. Guess what - why bother sending out warnings. My irises are already green in some leaves, my grape hyacinths are all green but laying down - I look forward to more stuff unearthing.

And the sooner I can get things in the ground and blooming life is happier!

Some things I leave to the bees, especially as I already get seedlings from many of my dark leaved cvs, but I would have thought wild dahlias would not necessarily need the pollen of other wild dahlias to set viable seed, so I never considered hand pollinating - and pretty sure Avon B would not have the time - but what do I know
I do know that many UK seed suppliers are not shipping to North America but I suspect it may have something to do with them no longer being in the EU (mostly no longer )

thanks for tagging me Scarlet!

I went missing, completely overwhelmed with my garden projects and our dahlia season was so late to start due to the hot summer. I was working so hard in October between planting 2500 bulbs and mulching, finishing the new beds before the winter. Now we still have about a foot of snow to melt and I'm sitting with a 1000 anemones and ranunculus in my cold frame waiting till I can see the ground to plant them!

I successfully whittled down the storage tubers when I dug up the plants. I didn't cull too many but narrowed my colors down since I plan to add them to my different colored gardens this year instead of a dahlia patch. I only added a few more unusual beige, gold, bronze colors this year and a few pale lavender. I'll share when they start to arrive. I have neglected my stored tubers but I think they're ok, honestly I'll be ok if I lose them. I think I need fewer than I have and would like to mulch them in the beds over winter rather than dig up. I need to limit the number of plants I have to do that with.

I'm still not working which has been really tough, I did make some of my own vases and look forward to making more designs with flowers from my garden in them. Making the porcelain vases is so very challenging but I'm grateful to keep busy.

Hope you're all doing well and starting to thaw out!

Here's my 2020 dahlia video with all the ones I grew:
https://youtu.be/aoYlOQy4FkY

back Sulli! I always wondered how the butterfly shaped bed turned out. Sorry to hear about the job. It's been a tough year. I'll have to look at your link.