Hello all you dahlia lovers! What were your favorites this year? What were you disappointed with? Were they new to you or were they ones you've had but acted differently this year?
As for me, my favorites this year were:
Verda. She was new to me this year and what a fantastic flower and plant. I'm not going to give any of her tubers away...I'm going to plant every one she gives me next spring.
Here is a pic of it along with another favorite, Croydon Masterpiece. Verda is the white one. (The two blonde ones are my MOST favorite of anything.)
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Two other favorites are pictured below (a little fuzzily). Kenora Jubilee is the white one and I loved how clean it looked and how it put out a good number of blooms with a consistent size. Rip City is the dark red one here. I loved the velvety red color and my earliest blooms were fairly large. They did get a little smaller later in the season. I'm not sure if that was the prolonged heat of our summers or if it needed more fertilizer. Another thing I'll add about Rip City is that its color never faded in the heat. This is another that I won't be sharing just yet. I'm going to plant every tuber I get.
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Another favorite was Tempest. I love the color of this one and the form was very consistent. It was also prolific with good stems. Here is a pic (the white one in the background is Gitts Attention, also a good one for me).
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Robin Hood--very pretty and very prolific. A favorite for me two years running. It was even better this year than last. I moved it to a little sunnier locale and it was bigger (plant and blooms) and the blooms' color was deeper. It fascinates me how purple and orange can blend into each other so perfectly in this flower.
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Intrigue--Another purplish-orangey blend, very beautiful but a little late and the main plant stem or trunk was crooked. This was probably my fault as I didn't stake it as soon as I should have. Here is a pic of Intrigue: {{gwi:667382}}
Lyn's April--a great red ball--another one I won't be sharing next year. This is not a great picture of it though. I should have taken more pics. {{gwi:667385}}
Disappointments include:
Alena Rose--her form was not very substantial and she showed her yellow disc flowers way too fast. I'm going to be giving all of my tubers away to a couple of ladies who want it despite its defects.
September Morn--I have to say that after all, I have to admit that I was disappointed in this one because she never looked like the catalog photos or the photos you guys posted. She was always open-centered for me. Even when the weather cooled in late September, she looked more like an August afternoon than a September morn. Here is a typical pic of her (which I believe I already posted in a previous discussion of this dahlia).
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Another disappointment for me was Tutti Frutti. She also never looked like the catalog photo as she was always open-centered and a little faded looking. It must not like the heat. Here is a rather good view of it but most didn't look even this good:
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Black Satin was disappointing because she stopped blooming in the heat. When she did bloom I did like the flowers though. I also have to add that I don't like Frank Holmes or Bumble Rumble very much. Bumble Rumble did improve over last year since I planted it in a sunnier spot but it still didn't thrill me. It was almost always covered in ants (as was Alena Rose). This pic shows the best bloom I got off of Bumble Rumble this year or last for that matter. It is definitely not representative of how they all looked. I wish all the blooms of Bumble Rumble looked this good.
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My biggest disappointment though was the fact that my Hillcrest Kismet tuber rotted in the ground and never sent up anything. I was so looking forward to that one. I'm going to try again next spring, dang it!
So, those are my joys and woes for 2009. What were yours?
Annabeth
brandymulvaine
Poochella
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