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Tracking down dahlias

FireFire Posts: 19,096
edited March 2022 in Problem solving
I'm trying to track down these dahlia tubers but can't find hide nor hair of them to buy in the UK. Does anyone have any ideas? I'd be interested in similar ones of height and colour - ie dark red to purple, as tall as I can get. Thanks

D. Admiral Rawlings
D. coccinea Mary Keen
D. coccinea Great Dixter

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Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Got this one in Lidl £1.29

    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I've had Arabian Night for 10 yrs or more.
    It gets to about 5ft and the flowers look like those above, a really deep red.
    But I have found that for the last few years the colour is now quite a bright red and the flowers are now only semi-double...
    Do the tubers change somehow over the years?

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • Jenny_AsterJenny_Aster Posts: 945
    Just wondering if you've been in contact with Aylett Nurseries? Think they must be the world's best dahlia grower.  https://www.aylettnurseries.co.uk/product/dahlias-2/
    Trying to be the person my dog thinks I am! 

    Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    I think Thomas Edison is a lovely colour. Some catalogues  give a height of 4 feet, but l would say between 3 to 3 and a half in my experience .
    https://www.farmergracy.co.uk/products/dahlia-thomas-a-edison-tubers-uk 
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    I can't find those precise ones, but Daily Dahlias on Instagram may be able to help. 

    My favourite at the moment is Dahlia Lou Farman - big single flowers that start off intense deep raspberry red, but then the outer petals soften in tone as the flowers age leaving a red ring in the centre. What I like most is how they are held aloft above the foliage on dark stems, it gives a very airy look.




    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • Tanty2Tanty2 Posts: 231
    What about HW Hyde for Dahlias? The ones I bought there last year flowered profusely in their first season :)
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I'm looking for 1.5 - 2m tall. I'm going for height.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    I searched some European suppliers out of interest and couldn’t find any of your varieties or any other dark red tubers of the sort of height you are looking for. Avon bulbs have seeds of coccinea var palmeri, an orangey red. Thompson and Morgan have a pack of mixed coccinea seeds including some dark red ones. Seeds might be your best/only bet.

    In saying that, some get much taller than stated, as most people want shorter, sturdier border dahlias so I think they understate heights sometimes. I have a big dinner plate dahlia that gets to around 2m (not red, an OTT orange blend) and the bishop reds got to 1.5m for me before I lost them to frost. I think you already have BofLl tho?
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I bought Arabian Night from B&Q. 2 per pack and 3 packs for £6
    Devon.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    OK. You win @Hostafan1😉
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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