Daydream thread... without the rose-tinted specs

Rummer

Davesnave wrote: »

Dahlias are standing in for other perennials and shrubs while our new garden matures. We have something like 25 of them planted, mostly dark leaved varieties and many of them 'Bishops.'

Even now, they are still putting on a good show after 3+ months of solid flowering.:)

Marvellous, do you recommend any particular ones or a good supplier? The pink/purple shaded ones were my favourite

Rummer

I_have_spoken wrote: »

They've been coming back into fashion, a few years back they were only of interest to allotmenteers for the local floral show.

I hadn't really seen them before and I saw them at a street flower sellers stall yesterday and then loads of them in the country park today. There is also another pink headed plant I am trying to identify. It is flowering now and has giant flower heads covered in tiny dark pink flowers.

Rummer

Sedums are the other ones

I_have_spoken

Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff' was the one that renewed interest in dahlias.



Easy enough to grow from seed - I found they flowered in their first year.

UNless you live in the south and/or on sandy soil, it's a bit of faf having to lift and store the tubers over winter.

Davesnave

Rummer wrote: »

Marvellous, do you recommend any particular ones or a good supplier? The pink/purple shaded ones were my favourite

I could be a good supplier:D, but not until next year. You don't want the hassle of overwintering anyway.

I just pray that we have a reasonably mild winter. They'll all go into dustbins full of dry compost next month and get tucked-away.

You'll have plenty of time for research.

None of mine come into the pom-pom category!:rotfl:

Rummer

Davesnave wrote: »

I could be a good supplier:D, but not until next year. You don't want the hassle of overwintering anyway.

I just pray that we have a reasonably mild winter. They'll all go into dustbins full of dry compost next month and get tucked-away.

You'll have plenty of time for research.

None of mine come into the pom-pom category!:rotfl:

Ah so they are one of the things you have to dig up and store. I will start reading up on them It was so exciting today seeing all the different ones on display.

Davesnave

Rummer wrote: »

Ah so they are one of the things you have to dig up and store. I will start reading up on them It was so exciting today seeing all the different ones on display.

Well, if there's a winter like 2009/10 they'll not survive in the ground, but when we had an allotment in the 1980s, ours were left in situ with no problems. We grew the vulgar ones then. :o

When we were selling plants, I was keen to mess with breeding from 'Bishop of Llandaff,' which is nice but has some weaknesses. I was after a similar red dahlia, but with fewer vices. I intended to call it 'Cardinal Sin.' :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

(I later found out there really is a Cardinal Syn!)

However, none of my reds was good enough.:( The only exceptional plant I bred was orange, so we called it '******'s (DW's name) Chocolate Orange' and sent it off to a big plant company.

The big plant co said they liked the dahlia, so they signed an agreement with us, put it into field trials and that was the last we saw of it. Basically, they kicked it into touch. They didn't really want to market it, but they'd effectively prevented others from having it. :mad:

We don't even have a 'Chocolate Orange' ourselves now. Lost it in the first hard winter here. :(

Never mind, I have a better plant, a seedling from a plant called dahlia 'Plum Pudding'

Itismehonest

The only thing I know about dahlias (from my childhood) is that they are earwig palaces. :rotfl:

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Hubby like them too, but I have never really known how to look after them, maybe one day I will have a go..

Caved in and lit the fire tonight, as hubby said he was cold... needed to sweep the chimley first though, as we did have a blockage, and smoke everywhere...

ukmaggie45

Itismehonest wrote: »

The only thing I know about dahlias (from my childhood) is that they are earwig palaces. :rotfl:

I'm with you there Itsme! Mum used to grow them when I was a littlie and we lived in North Harrow. She used to use them as cut flowers in the house, I hated them as they always had loads of earwigs in them... Now I know that earwig mothers are really great mothers and carry their babies around on their backs, but I still don't like earwigs. But dahlias are very attractive flowers... Hmm, flowers or earwigs, earwigs or flowers... :rotfl:

Mum never grew them again when we moved to West Kirby. She went for heathers instead, which prob accounts for why I am not enamoured of heathers other than ones growing in the wild. And I HATE West Kirby (It's in the Wirral by the River Dee if you're wondering, folks!). Painful schooldays even now at 65 haunt me! :eek: