Recommendations Wanted for two Dinnerplate Dahlias

Garden Forum » Dahlias in the Garden Forum » Recommendations Wanted for two Dinnerplate Dahlias « Previous    Next »

Author Message   Lovinlife  Supporting Member Posted on Thursday, January 03, 2008 - 02:24 pm EST :    Can someone recommend a dinnerplate red and a white? Thanks, Buddies. Lovinlife - Utah, Zone "5"   Dahlianut  Supporting Member My Weather Posted on Thursday, January 03, 2008 - 02:37 pm EST :    Gloria-- I will try and search my brain. As I'm typing, my DH is tearing out the kitchen cupboards. Maybe Cory can come up with some. Did you try looking at the dahlia suppliers sight? Linda Washington State Zone 8   Lovinlife  Supporting Member Posted on Friday, January 04, 2008 - 12:01 pm EST :    (trying to post once more) Thanks so much, Linda. I would like to get a red one to give for Valentine's Day if possible. New kitchen cupboards -- you lucky gal! Lovinlife - Utah, Zone "5"   Plantlady2  My Favorite Photo My Weather My Garden My Time Posted on Friday, January 04, 2008 - 04:52 pm EST :    White- AA size-- Kenora Clyde- really tall but sturdy: Spike- lots of blooms good form-- wonderful. Red- AA size--Wyn's Cinnabar, Creve Coeur, Danum Meteor, Dauntless, Wildman, Zorro- it's wonderful!; Wyn's Simon's Honor, Dr. Les, Taum Sauk. If you don't need AA size but still want large ones there's A sized- white- White Alva's - a really nice FD, Maisy Mooney & Sheila Mooney & of course Kenora Jubilee & Kenora Challenger. Red- Wyn's dapper Dad; Kenora Wildfire, Tom Yano --& I can't think of any others right now that I would recommend. Spartacus is a nice bloom but tends to have very brittle stems that snap off at the drop of a hat- so don't drop your hat in the garden >:) It's hard to tell what you mean when you refer to "dinnerplate" as the seed companies that use that old term call anything over 6" a "Dinnerplate" in hope of drawing you in. So... AA Size is 10" diameter bloom & up; A Size is 8-10" diameter bloom. Here's Spike- This one's White Alva's This is Wyn's Dapper Dad- a really bright cherry red. Zorro- a deeper darker red- almost burgandy I'll have to look on some other discs to get pictures of some of the others but you can probably find them on the Suppliers list at the Colorado Dahlia Society site & spend a dreary Jan. day having a dahlia fix! Cory Plantlady2 - Washington, Zone "7"   Lovinlife  Supporting Member Posted on Friday, January 04, 2008 - 06:20 pm EST :    Beautiful! I love the Wyn's Dapper Dad and Spike. Can you e-mail me so I can order those from you? gloria_carson@hotmail.com I may not be back here or in e-mail until Monday, but I sure will look for you. Thanks! Lovinlife - Utah, Zone "5"   Lovinlife  Supporting Member Posted on Friday, January 04, 2008 - 06:22 pm EST :    Almost forgot: The size I want is definitely the AA size, 10" or more. Lovinlife - Utah, Zone "5"   Lisa  My Weather Posted on Saturday, January 05, 2008 - 01:15 am EST :    how can i grow them that big? i see them all the time up here. Lisa - fairbanks,alaska, Zone "?"   Plantlady2  My Favorite Photo My Weather My Garden My Time Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2008 - 06:40 pm EST :    Lisa- first you start with the tuber from an AA dahlia. You can't make a small dahlia much bigger no matter what you do to it. Then you plant & fertilize- (the husband gives them about 1/2 cup of 10 20 20 when he plants - mixed into the soil well-- & then he side-dresses again in July to give them a boost for the shows in August) When they come up you debranch & disbud so that you don't grow a ton of blooms on one plant. Some AA's you can grow 10 up or more but in England most growers limit them to 3-4 per plant. We don't do that but still, with some disbudding you can get the giants to have both big blooms & enough of them to keep blooms on all season long. The Wyn's Farmer John in the picture to the left was about 14" across by 10" deep & had 8 blooms on the plant & more to come! Look at the Colorado Dahlia Society site to learn about disbudding & debranching. If you have a short growing season you probably would have to start the tubers indoors around March & plant them out whenever the risk of freezing has passed-- the biggies sometimes take a lot longer to bloom than the little guys do. Look at previous posts on this forum to see some of the giants that we took to the Vancouver & Fraser Valley dahlia shows. Cory Plantlady2 - Washington, Zone "7"   Lisa  My Weather Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 12:45 am EST :    thanks of all of the advise. with the almost 24 hr daylight we have from may to augest. the plants go wild. i see lots of big dahlias around town but coulden grow them. i take it that you have to water and fertalize them alot. Lisa - fairbanks,alaska, Zone "?"   Plantlady2  My Favorite Photo My Weather My Garden My Time Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 01:42 am EST :    Lisa- we do water when they need it- & if the weather gets dry they can really soak it up but the fertilizer is only what I described above- 1/2 Cup of 10 20 20 when planting & a side-dress of about a cup per plant in July. We have drip irrigation in the dahlia fields so the water all goes directly to the roots. Walt will irrigate for two hours at a time- we have really sandy soil so it runs through pretty quickly & if it gets really warm he has to water nearly every day. Try getting tubers from really big AA dahlias like Zorro, Ivory Palaces, Wanda's Moonlight, Inca Trident, Wyn's Conquistador, Bonaventure, Lula Patti, Pennsgift, Belle of Barmera, Creve Coeur or Sir Alfred Ramsey -- all really big ones-- they're all ones that you don't have to force or strip the plant to get them big-- & then stand back! Oh, I almost forgot Emory Paul which is HUGE - but it's a really late bloomer & you don't get many blooms to open before frost even around here in the Pacific NW. Cory Plantlady2 - Washington, Zone "7"   Lisa  My Weather Posted on Tuesday, January 08, 2008 - 02:12 am EST :    cory is the fetilizer slow release or just plain powered stuff that you mix with water. lisa Lisa - fairbanks,alaska, Zone "?"   Seil  Supporting Member My Garden Journal My Weather My Time Posted on Tuesday, January 08, 2008 - 03:56 pm EST :    I've never tried to grow the really big ones. I think I'll take your list and look for some this year, Cory. Thanks for the advice. Seil - Michigan, Zone "6"   Plantlady2  My Favorite Photo My Weather My Garden My Time Posted on Tuesday, January 08, 2008 - 08:39 pm EST :    Lisa- the fertilizer is the good old granulated farm fertilizer that we use on the row crops & raspberries & blueberries. You can get it at your local feed store if you have such a thing where you live. It's much less expensive & works just the same as the fancy packaged fertilizers that the nurseries & garden stores sell. It's put on dry & watered in- with the rain in spring & with the drip irrigation in the summer. Cory Plantlady2 - Washington, Zone "7"   Dirtlady  Posted on Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 05:51 am EST :    Amazing blooms Plantlady. I was given tubers from a friend and when looking for the type fertilizer recommended the local feed store said "how about potato fertilizer"....so thats what I used and the results were fine by me. Course being new to them, had nothing except pics to compare them to. I'll post a few from last year. The biggest problem I have is remembering to de-branch in order to have larger blooms. Sharon Dirtlady - Georgia, Zone "8B"   Bluewillow  My Favorite Photo Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 12:46 pm EST :    Can anyone recommend a lavender or purpleish dinner plate dahlia for a newbie please? Bluewillow - London UK, Now Canada, Zone " 5b"   Plantlady2  My Favorite Photo My Weather My Garden My Time Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 07:43 pm EST :    Vassio Meggos - pictures in our albums. Wyn's Garden Glow- not quite as lavendar but still in the ballpark. Elma Elizabeth (aka Elma E) is a really nice formal dec- not quite as big but still an A-- 8-10" diameter. Rev. P Holihan- an oldie- not a show flower but a nice garden bloom. Pennsgift- another oldie & BIGGIE Bella S & Cheerleader are also Lav. Look on the Colorado Dahlia Society site under The Big List to find out who sells them & you can usually find a picture of them at those suppliers sites. Plantlady2 - Washington, Zone "7"   Bunting  Posted on Saturday, March 01, 2008 - 10:34 pm EST :    I love dahilias I ordered some this year I find the dinner plates hard to get and never see them in the box stores Beautiful Bunting - NS, Zone "6a"   Plantlady2  My Favorite Photo My Weather My Garden My Time Posted on Sunday, March 02, 2008 - 05:37 pm EST :    Bunting- If you look for AA or A sized dahlias on the dahlia growers sites that's what used to be called "Dinner Plate" Cory Plantlady2 - Washington, Zone "7"   Bunting  Posted on Sunday, March 02, 2008 - 08:29 pm EST :    Cory Thank you I saw that in one of the growers but I had no idea what it meant Lol,lol are they going to follow the Ever Ready bunnies now. Bunting - NS, Zone "6a"   Plantlady2  My Favorite Photo My Weather My Garden My Time Posted on Monday, March 03, 2008 - 01:25 am EST :    Bunting-- You're welcome. Don't know about the bunny- but there's AA, A, B, BB & miniature in the dahlia size classes- and-- get this-- the AA is bigger than the A but the B is bigger than the BB!! They've been classed that way for many, many years- had to have been done by a guy! Cory Plantlady2 - Washington, Zone "7"   Bunting  Posted on Monday, March 03, 2008 - 08:34 am EST :    Cory I was making refernce to the Ever Ready Batteries, you know size AA AAA etc. meant as a joke Bunting - NS, Zone "6a"