While some types of citrus (like meyer's lemons, kumquats, etc) are capable of blooming and producing fruit the first year while in the ground, many won't produce fruit for a few years even if they do bloom. To answer the question "What's up with the orange?" - there is most likely nothing wrong with your orange. This question actually pops up more than many. Almost all citrus is capable of blooming in their own pots when you buy them, because the root system has been established in the pots, and instead of excessively growing in the pot, it actually produces blooms and even fruit. However, when you plant the citrus in to the ground, it can take several (2-7) years before the plant starts producing fruits. This is because the roots have to grow and re-establish in the ground, enough to support top growth and blooming.

"Lets say a yellow flower is pollinated by a pink flower....Would it be safe to say that the resulting seeds will produce a pink and yellow flower that is in between the size of the 2 parent plants? What if pollen from more than one flower from different dahlias pollinates a single flower of another flower.... Will there be traits of 3 or more flower combined? " A yellow flower pollinated by a pink flower will produce several color possibilities. Probably there will be a very few solid yellow, very few solid pink, many blends of the two and orange which in dahlias is a blend of yellow and pink pigments. There is possibility of solid red also. As the previous post said they are octoploid and the with extra genes, you get lots of possible color combinations. I would rule out getting any purple flowers and white would also be very rare. But all could happen. The same is true for size. Many will be the same size as one of the parents. Some could be smaller than both parents and some could be larger than both parents. Most will fall into what you say about half way. It would be very unlikely that any flower would be two sizes bigger or two sizes smaller. A dahlia flower when pollinated by a bee can get pollen from any flower the bee visited that day. If the bee visited all of the flowers in your garden that had pollen, the flower could have seeds pollinated by numerous different flowers. Having said that, the flower visited by the bee just before visiting your flower is the most likely candidate. Each seed can only have one pollen parent and by the way most dahlias are not self pollinated but some can be. Most seedlings look terrible. about 2% look good and 1% look very good.

I recently learned that hybrid sunflower seeds specifically want the seed head to face down so the birds don't eat the seeds. The seeds will form and as they mature, they may start to "fall out". Some people place a stocking or sack over the sunflower head to catch the seeds. Others just cut the head off the plant, hand harvest the seeds and let them dry completely before they store them. Beautiful plants. You did great! Heidi

A few signs of spring..a few of those tall Trumpet Lilies I bought last year returning..I wonder if they will flower since we barely froze this winter? Lilium Regale Yellow trumpet lily 'African Queen' Red Castor Beans still blooming..they were protected under the Live Oak canopy My banana stands were not protected..just a touch of frost made them ugly Night Blooming Jasmine and milkweed..still butterflies around too.. What to do with the dormant waterlily tubs...I throw passiflora cuttings in there until I am ready to root them. I've left them in there all winter and they stay fresh..sometimes they root in the waterlily tubs lol. Ummm how long can you leave Bare Root body bags soaking? I'm pretty sure these two poor things have been in there for a month or more Lol! Blue Girl has a bud. I'm a bad bad rose mommy.