Dahlias

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Annie
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Dahlias

Post by Annie »

Dahlias ,they remind me of Dad ,they were the only thing he could grow but for years I didnt bother with them. About 5 years ago I decided to give them a try and now I have them every year. I admit to not being very good at keeping them from year to year but the bonus there is choosing new ones each Spring. Today I looked at the tubers I bought a couple of weeks ago and they are all showing signs of life so they are now in compost in the greenhouse to get a start prior to outdoor planting. Anyone else like/grow dallies ?
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perchy
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Re: Dahlias

Post by perchy »

One of Mr Perchy's favourites, and we grow them but last year they had lots of black fly, and it really did ruin them so this year will keep an eye out and get the washing up liquid out quick!!
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Annie
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Re: Dahlias

Post by Annie »

perchy wrote:One of Mr Perchy's favourites, and we grow them but last year they had lots of black fly, and it really did ruin them so this year will keep an eye out and get the washing up liquid out quick!!

See those folk with dish washers couldn't do that Perchy {rofwl}
It will be alright in the end , if its not alright, it isn't the end .
Quote from the proprietor of the The best exotic Marigold Hotel for the elderly and beautiful
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perchy
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Re: Dahlias

Post by perchy »

{rofwl}
Maggie1

Re: Dahlias

Post by Maggie1 »

Dahlias are one of my favourites as well. A lovely cut and come again flower. A bit like sweet peas (another favourite) You have to keep cutting them to get more. I don't put mine out till late April beginning of May when all fear of frost has gone. Try planting tagettes around them to deter the fly.
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p.penn
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Re: Dahlias

Post by p.penn »

I have grown them as a flower crop for the last 2 years - I started them in pots then the first year I planted all but 1 into the border, and the second left them in tubs (but the ones in the border came back can you believe it after the snow!).

I got a bit fed up of dahlias in the house last summer. {rofwl}

I haven't started any this year yet, in case all of the borders and post burst into life ha haha. Probably be flowerless all year this time. )gr:
Helen xx

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Re: Dahlias

Post by Maggie1 »

I don't lift mine either Helen. An old gardener told me not to years ago. If you leave their blackened foliage on top of them after the first frosts it acts as a protector. I still buy fresh ones as well as I've got a big garden so one more doesn't matter.
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Mad Chick
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Re: Dahlias

Post by Mad Chick »

I love dahlias and have a few tubs of them every year (I buy new ones - didn't even realise they were supposed to come back :oops: ) but my mum says they're 'spiteful' - how can a flower look spiteful? >dum<
Lucy x


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p.penn
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Re: Dahlias

Post by p.penn »

Oddly enough I have always hated them as flowers but suddenly have taken a liking to them.

I prefer all one colour in a vase though, and only really like the spikey ones. Although maybe I am softening to the pom-poms too.....
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jannie
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Re: Dahlias

Post by jannie »

They went out of fashion for a long time didn't they ?
My parents grew masses of them along the drive to the farmhouse.. they sold the cut flowers at the gate via an honesty box...there was a cemetry about half a mile away which was transformed by our Dahlias in the summer.. :-D
The Dahlias I have in my garden now started life at the farm..I have dug them up to move them when we've moved house or to split the tubers..but otherwise they stay in the ground with a good mulch of straw in the winter.. )t'
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Annie
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Re: Dahlias

Post by Annie »

My friend grows hers in tubs which go into an outbuilding and they survive in the main but any I have been too lazy to dig out have suffered because of all the wet up here , they just go into a soggy mass. Anyway the are a comparitively tuber to buy fresh each year - the one I really dont like though is Bishop of Landaff (sp) and that will come up again - sods law eh
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secret squirrel
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Re: Dahlias

Post by secret squirrel »

I grow Daliahs because they remind me of my Grandad, who was a keen gardener. I remember, as a little girl, crouching on a stool in the greenhouse watching him pot Pelagomium cuttings and he always had lovely Daliahs in the garden.
I also have , in my garden a Night Scented Jasmin, which was taken from a cutting in his garden. Its a bit of a thug, but the scent is just lovely and it gives good leaf cover along the fence. {hug} Its hard work to keep it in check but I`m qhuite sentimental about it because it feels like there is still a connection even though my grandparents have been gone for over 20 years. Silly , arnt I? but there you go. {hug}
lorna
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Re: Dahlias

Post by Maggie1 »

Its funny how different scents reminds you of childhood memories. I always remember my Mum having night scented stock which smelt lovely in the evenings. I love the smell of bluebells and remind me of lovely days bluebelling. When I was little I had brochitis a lot and my mum always put a vase of daffodils beside my bed and the frequent visit to the doctors who had wallflowers all up his pathway. memories eh.
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secret squirrel
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Re: Dahlias

Post by secret squirrel »

I remember the distinct aroma of `Sweet Williams`. )t'
lorna
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Re: Dahlias

Post by Maggie1 »

That was my dads allotment flower
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