Documenting Dahlias 2024

I can’t believe it’s already October, I thought our Indian summer would last forever. But alas, the sun is going down earlier every day. With less hours of sun each day, the plants are growing more slowly. This has been a year of rebuilding for me. I lost nearly all of my dahlias last year - I left them in the ground because I was not in good health last fall and couldn’t pull them up. That on top of the week of 14-degree weather did them in. I tried hard to see this as an opportunity to upgrade my flowers, to make them better, more “cut flower” friendly varieties - and I’ve got some beauties in there. For the most part, I only purchased 2 tubers for each dahlia - using this year as an experiment. Dahlias will literally get voted off the island if they are too short, have weak stems, don’t produce enough, or fail to ever bloom in the first place - there are dahlias in each of these categories. The last few weeks my phone is full of pictures and notations of height, bloom size, and whether it’s a keeper or a goner. Below are some examples:

KEEPERS: Here are a few I plan on keeping and expanding in my garden:

Alpen Sundown - I usually don’t like short 3’ plants. But this bloom is amazing on long stems.	Bloomquist Jean - I’ve never grown a more gorgeous flower in my life. Completely amazing.	Bracken Rose - The most perfect ball dahlia. I need to add more pink to my collection, and she will do great.	Burfoot Eva - A first-year offering from Burfoot flowers in Olympia. Both plants reached 6’ tall with beautiful blush orange/yellow 3.5” blooms.

GONERS: Here are those that I will be letting go. All for sale next spring.

Apple Blossom - I can't seem to cut these at the right time or the flowers to last in the vase.	Harmari Gold - I never order this giant yellow/cantaloupe dinner plate. It came to me mislabeled. So it's a goner.	Foxy Lady - Almos a replica of Ferncliff Thunder, which I like better. Only need one, so this one will go.	Gitts Attention - Not as productive as I'd like it, and the bloom is a bit too large to work in bouquets. I have other whites I like better.

NO SHOWS: Here are some that were either mislabeled or never bloomed:

Sherwoods Peach - Never bloomed or never arrived.	Skipley Spot of Gold - One of the tubers has a 6" sprout, and that's it. Never grew up.	Irish D Porter - Never grew up. But also kinda looks like Wizard of Oz, so maybe just as well.	Karmel Korn - I remember ordering this, but it never grew up. This one I'll try again.

There’s so many new dahlias being created every year, there’s really no end to the excitement of seeing new blooms in the garden.