Always gorgeous and perfect, Cory! Love the umbrellas.

Simply amazing!

Cheers,
Russ

Great Plantlady. Nice to have you here to keep us poor country boy's in line. You give us something to aspire to.

What a beautiful sight. My Zorro didn't get that big? I can't imagine taking care of all that.

What inspiring photos! Just amazing...and the flowers are sooo gorgeous. I especially love Wynn's Eek...that arrangement is head-turning. :)

What are your fave suppliers?

Keep on sharing those pics. I love dreaming. :)

carolyn

OOh Hillcrest Kismet- one of my alltime favorites and it's back in the garden this year, hurray. Wyn's Betwitched looks pretty beckoning too: great color.

Plantlady IS probably her favorite supplier and so is prohibited from say so here, so I'll say it for her. Wynne's Dahlias are highly reputable and Wynnes themselves are about the nicest people ever treading in the dahlia world. They are known for hybridizing many of the large beauties you see posted here and keep the winners coming every year. Their tubers are tops: first out of the ground here and just going gangbusters since. (Except one, but that was likely our rotten spring which took a toll on many.)

A trip to their farm is like Disneyland for dahlia lovers and I can personally attest to the quality of tubers and sound information you'll get from either Plantlady or her other hardworking half, Walt. That they can manage 1000's of dahlias on their own is a resounding testament to hard work and commitment. Incredible efforts yield incredible sights, as we all can see in Plantlady's posts.

How long til "Fairy Dust" might be available??? Gorgeous!

Wow, I didn't realize. What gorgeous flowers, truly! :) Add another "Fairy Dust" fan to the list! :)

W O W ! !

Your gardens are amazing.

Thanks everyone- & Poochella- thanks- we just keep plugging along. Going to have to make you a chocolate mousse next time you come up for those words of praise!!
Now for something really exciting for us. Paul & Cheryl Howard- 2 of our good friends & probably the best dahlia growers & exhibitors in the Pacific NW just won Best in Show at the Puget Sound Dahlia Society Show by Seattle with one of our seedlings!!! It was the first time this baby has been shown anywhere & it Won Best in Show--WOW!-- a really rare occurance as it usually takes a few years of showing for a dahlia to get that far in shows. We're really hyped about it. Here's the dahlia at their place last week-- when they send me show picts I'll post them with all the lovely ribbons.

0286 A SC Y a dahlia so new it doesn't even have a name yet- just a number.
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Oh that is gorgeous! Congratulations. I might have to take a quick trip down to Kent and see what's on display afterall. Was going to skip it this year, but perhaps not.
Another seedling beauty with exceptional stems, I see. Well done, Wynnes!

OH oh- I messed up & deleted the previous picture. Here's a couple of pictures taken at the show.
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This is the Cheryl half of Paul & Cheryl!
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That truely is a beauty! I went south to take in the show this afternoon & was stunned to see a seedling get Best in Show- then I heard that it was yours! It even out-shone the Inland Dynasty. Congratulations!!
The Trengrove Millenium was really nice, too-- love that one.
Ellie

PS-- if I say nice things about you & Walt will you make me a chocolate mousse next time I come up, too? Oh, that's right-- you already do :)

That is so nice and prety. Now for it to fit into my garden you will have to make it lavender so the wife will want it out front. LOL

I'll work on that, vikingcraftsman. Can't turm that one lav. but I did some good crosses last year & have a really good bunch of dark purple, burgandy & some deep almost black FD's out of them-- all A or AA sized ones. Haven't been able to get any picts. of them yet though because every time I go out to the garden it either rains or I forget the camera. More like fall or winter here most of this summer.

WOW! Congrats on that lovely molten creation. :) A seedling winning best in show, no less!

Oh that is a beautiful yellow.... Keep working on the purple, maroon, almost blacks. You can do it!

Hold the mousse- offer me up some tomatoes and blueberries instead! They were so delicious and appreciated.

I've been wondering if Skagit Co and beyond is as un-summerlike as it has been here this year. I'm WAITING for summer, and September is knocking at the door.... One really great thing is that our rainfall has been perfectly timed to save me hours of watering. So that's a plus, but a little tiny plus!

Annie/Poochella- What summer? We went from winter to fall with nothing but rain in between- had a late cold spring that lasted about 3 days & on to wet cold summer. Blah! We had about 3 weeks total of nice days & never more than 5 or 6 nice days in a row. Makes me want to head south with the snow birds! Now it's raining again & I'm sooo tired of the wet.
Any time- come & get blueberries & tomatoes-- & Walt's got mega amounts of green beans & GIANT beets-- the size of B dahlias! Don't know what he's going to do with them all- I can only eat so many in a year.
Tagged a bunch more dahlias today - in the pink, lav., purple, color scheme-- as well as a couple of yellows & a bronze or 2 & a really beautiful clear, cherry red FD that we missed last time through. Neither one of us could figure out how we missed it last time. The '08 seedlings are coming on strong now with new ones opening every day.
Ellie- how are your dahlias doing? Did they miss you when you were off gallivanting around the world? Come & see us soon, OK.

Well, I'm glad we're not the only ones suffering through this 'faux summer.' I bet 25% of my plants haven't bloomed yet. Cross your fingers for a hot September.

We love beets! And green beans. I was happy to see the first little cucumber on the vines today. B sized beets don't scare me! You and Walt have the growing touch for all things: flower or vegetable. Don't know if a trip north is in the cards or not yet this year: September is full of commitments.

Cherry red sounds wonderful. Keep track of that one. Look who's blooming here:
Wyn's Fiesty Frieda in glorious rich color. I love it!
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Wyn's Peach Sorbet got a chance to bloom, despite the rain and drizzle. Very nice color!
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Glad to see Freda bloomed for you -- & that you finally got your Peach Sorbet -- a year later!

Love Fairy Dust. I remember EEk! from a couple years ago. Where can I get one? I like quirky. (hey, need an official name for Eek? Call it Quirky!)

Triple B I think Wyn's Eeek, give or take an "e," is the official name. Try a google search.

Peach Sorbet is lovely- got even more cactussed and full, but who can wait to take a photo? Wyn's Moonlight Sonata or Mystic Moonlight ( I get them confused) is coming soon and Wyn's Arctic Frost is in bloom despite August's chill and wet. Lovely white ! Didn't have to water much; looking on the bright side.

I may have to get that one for next year. Does Wynne's ship to Canada?

triple b- yes, Wynne's ships to Canada & just about anywhere else in the world. Cory told me that there was Wynne dahlias in bloom at Christmas last year. Then she said it was in Cape Town, South Africa!!

Ellie

TOMO and Unknown one at South Puget Sound Dahlia Show
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Plantlady-I am fascinated by the beauty that you must be surrounded with on your farm. Curiosity leads me to ask some questions, but please forgive me if my amateur-ness shows: Confirming, a "seedling" is a new dahlia variety that you have developed, right?
Do you actually grow them from seed?
How long does it take to get them from seed to a named dahlia variety that you sell?
When will 0286 get a name and be available now that it has stolen the show?
Lastly, you mentioned some giant-sized Formal Decoratives that were dark purple, burgundy, and almost black that were A or AA sized. I could be mistaken, but it seems to me that there aren't very many A or AA Formal Decoratives. In my internet searching, I have pretty much only seen dinnerplate-sized ones that are very informal or cactus-y or otherwise "wild" looking. While these are very beautiful, I would really like to get a very large dahlia with the form of something like Hillcrest Kismet, no matter what color they are. Do any exist and/or are you developing them as we speak? If so, I want to be on your mailing list! Good luck to you and keep up the beautiful, fabulous, GOOD work!

Annabeth

Annabeth- yes, a seedling is a new variety that we have hybridized. We grew it from seed. The first year I plant the seeds in flats & when they've got 2 sets of leaves I transplant them into deep 3" pots. They grow in our greenhouse until the end of May when Walt plants them out in the seedling garden. We usually have around 750 - we will keep about 150 of them to evaluate the second year. After that we keep evaluating them until they're either 5 years old or we get rid of them if they don't make the grade. In order to get a seedling into the trail gardens it has to be 3 years old-- & some gardens require the seedling to have won at least 1 first on the hort. bench in a show or have scored on the 1-10 in a show. Then it goes to the trials for a summer & then is either introduced or not the 5th year. It's taken a lot of years to figure out what seed parents to use in what combination to get good seedlings. We specialize in the biggies - AA & A sized - but if we get a nice B or BB we're not about to toss it out.
We haven't decided if we're going to introduce 0386 (yes, I goofed up on the number- it's 03 not 02) next year or not. We might send it to the trial gardens to see how it does all around the country. It won Best AA in Show at the Fraser Valley Dahlia Show in Canada last weekend- we think it's going to be an AA rather than an A since it seems to want to grow BIG!
You're right- there's no AA or A sized FD purple or dark burgandy dahlias- & only a couple of ID ones-- that's why I was so excited when we got some this year. I just tagged some more today-- going to use that combination of parents more for sure! Meanwhile, we have a really nice 8" dark purple seedling that looks like a dark purple Edna C. Walt calls her Primadonna! I was going to post a picture of her for you but Photobucket seems to be having a maintenance problem right now & I can't get in to get the picture.
We would ALL like to have a giant with Hillcrest Kismet form-- wouldn't that be wonderful!

I just got pictures posted to photo bucket. So it is working for me. Boy I hope you get some nice big purples. They make the wife smile and the neighbors surprised.

OK- here's the Primadonna! I can't get the dark purple to come out right in pictures -- it looks pinker than it is. It's true color is a rich Royal Purple.
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Plantlady try taking the same bloom in the morning light, at noon then in the evening light. Then try holding an umbrella over the bloom while shooting it. Then try a faster shutter speed on your camera. I know you have limited time on your hands, but your flowers are to prety not to show the best color possible.

viking- I've tried that bloom at every time of day you can name & also fast shutter speed & slow, umbrella & no umbrella inside & out- I just can't get the deep purple to come out- it always comes out pinker or redder than in person. I have a friend who has a camera with a bunch of different filters she can use with it & I'm going to try & see if she still has it & if so if she will take some pictures for us.

Plantlady, Thanks very much for filling me in. I love Primadonna!