Iām so pleased with my Cafe Au Lait dahlia, Iāve planted lots of dahlias together with Cosmos and planned to use them as cut flowers but I canāt bear to cut any as they all look so beautiful!
You can cut some from the orange one, (David Howard I presume!) cos he's a really good doer I've had mine a few years and split the tubers more than once, so I have several large plants. Karma Naomi is another strong grower here and good to pick.
The other one, the Bishop of LL, I have too and also split, but he's a bit more of a sensitive soul and takes longer to bulk up for me. The Bishop of York though has been loving the hot sunny weather and is full of blooms and he has only been watered twice by me since I planted him back in May!
I love the look of Cafe au Lait, but I avoid the very large flowered ones here as my garden is very windy.
Thanks @Buttercupdays you sound like a dahlia expert whereas Iām in my second year of growing them. Ā The ones I photographed were all new tubers this year so Iām pleased so far. Ā After reading that youāve only watered your Bishop of York twice since May, Iām now worried Iām overwatering mine š¬ Ā During the last week or so Iāve been watering them every day, do you think thatās too much?
I doubt you would be overwatering, it's more that I can't water anything. We don't have mains water here and after an age without decent rainfall our springs have dried up!
I have a number of water butts, some still have a little water in them and we have a large pond too, but have to avoid using that for plants as we have to water the sheep - their fields are mostly dry too.
I have been impressed by how well the dahlias have done under such conditions, though their growth is much less lush and green than normal. I bought a dozen or so new tubers this year and have watered them slightly more, as they are much smaller. They haven't grown much at all, but they haven't died either. Some of them have even managed a flower or two and they are in a south-facing bed. Much more resilient than I would have expected
@CDouch Such lovely pictures - esp the Cafe Au Lait. And all the sea of cosmos. How gorgeous. I think your CauL would make for some great greetings card or a picture for the wall. Ice cream and flames and velvet all in one. I can see why the dahlia is so popular.Ā
You have captured great depth int hat first pic, @CDouch .
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I split up my Rip City and gave all the tubers to neighbours. They are thrilled with their successes, which is wonderful. Because of our slugs, we grow dahlias in pots. The locals just put the whole pot in a shed over winter and bring it out again in April or so. The easiest thing ever. No losses. Such good cut flowers.
People in out local garden group were very nervous of trying dahlias because of the whole slug / lifting tubers / over wintering business. It's good to see them flying with it now.
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Last one is Orange nugget. The red one could be Red Runner, I'm not too sure.
Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.