The mystery of why your plant had so many leaves is solved! You have two plants growing. They look healthy, roots look good, one appears to be getting more light - size of leaf and color is lighter. Whether you separate them is up to you. I would leave them, increase light and hopefully you will get spikes this fall. I see you live in Oregon, it is possible the plants are not receiving enough light and you might want to supplement with a CFL bulb to increase your chance of spiking. Your plants should be making new leaves and roots over summer and with a temp drop in Sept. you should see spikes beginning. Jane

Hi Elizabeth, I never did get any seed to set on LaPaz but the pollen did work well on Ruby Meyer.I think every single one of 100 seeds germinated and is growing pretty well. About 75% have the dark red blush on the leaves from Ruby Meyer but the faster growers are the 25% green leafed. It is sending up another scape so I will give it another try with a different set of partners.I have to say LaPaz is not one of my favorites,I much prefer Ruby Meyer.I did not self Ruby Meyer. Misty neither set seed nor pollinated anything viable last year. I have no clue as to it's parentage but it could be a triploid. I will of course try again, it has a pretty face and I can see it looking very nice with several crosses. Emerald,if I remember correctly,did not produce viable seed. It did pollinate Ruby Meyer and Pink Floyd. The seedlings are growing ok but not a tremendously vigorus cross. Since it's a papilio cross it just might give you some seed in combination with Exotic Star or papilio improved. If you would like some pollen to play with just let me know. I have puniceum,Pink Floyd is about ready,a noid fragrant white trumpet that is breeding dip and lots of Cupido & Jade Serpent. Oh,Baby Doll too-it seems to set pods on everything! Lora

While there's clearly a lot of research in your post Jeannie7, the answer you're providing michiman is, well, pure bunk, IMO. That a plant has been grown in a zone does not make it native to that zone...it may make it hardier to that zone, but Dahlias are native to Mexico (zone 11), not the Pacific North West...so pretty much all Dahlias in NA are growing outside their native zone, by 2 or more zones. Weve got posters from zone 4 who have blooms. Dahlias do not produce bulbs, which are stem tubers, they produce root tubers which are significantly different. I seriously doubt that the tubers michiman received from his FIL were "hybridized" for the Pacific North West. Whod want such a plant? Whom would you sell it to, where would you show it? If it wont grow in trial gardens around the country, it cant get its ADS designation (AFAIK.) So unless FIL is genetically engineering some very specific Dahlias, and totally forgot they were hybridized for the PNW and gave them to michiman in order to prove his daughter made a bad choice of husbands (knowing that michiman would never be able to grow them in Michigan) I seriously doubt the tubers are the source of the problem. This is further proven by the fact michimans tubers sprouted, and some flowers do appear. Clearly these are viable tubers IN MICHIGAN. Which part of michimans growth tells you they **cant** grow in Michigan? This isnt to say that the PCN isnt a great place to grow Dahlias, but its not the only place for any varieties Ive ever heard of. Ive got 43 varieties of PCN grown tubers growing here in my zone 5b garden. My point is that this whole zone hardiness bunk is misleading to anyone who might believe you. As long as you can provide a long enough growing season for your Dahlias, whether that is partly inside or not, you can have beautiful blooms practically anywhere. My average from 95 blooming plants right now is ~160 days from the time you take a tuber out of storage to the time it blooms. The quickest was 107 days, the longest 230, so as you can see there can be a huge variation even in the same gardens (as someone else pointed out, there can also be a huge variation in the soil composition/sun/water across a single garden.) Michiman, my best suggestion to you for next year is to take your tubers out of storage any time after mid- January. Stand them up in some soil so the pointy end of the tuber is in the ground, and push them in about half the length of the tuber. You can put them 4"-6" apart. Watch the eyes form (if they hadnt before you divided them) and sprouts form. When the sprout is ~4" long, or has 3 or more sets of leaves, cut it off very close to the tuber. Put that cutting in a 4" pot with Miracle Grow Seed Starter mix. Water thoroughly and keep watered until you see new growth (remember, these arent tubers any more so you cant really hurt them with too much water.) Grow these in your windows, rotating as needed (to keep the stems straight.) In May, when all chances of frost are gone (air frost, now youll be worried about the leaves being frosted so this is a little later than youd worry about frost for tubers,) plant them out in your garden as you would tubers. Leave them in their pots, or take them out...your choice. Leaving them in the pots will make for smaller more compact tuber clumps in the fall and theyll be easier to lift. In all other respects theyll grow identically either way. You should have blooms much earlier this way, regardless the variety. Cheers, Russ

"Moon flower" is a pretty broad umbrella term. If you could. My knowledge is in the genus Datura, so I'll try to help you out. It would be ideal to identify this plant before we go any further. Here is a picture of one of my Datura wrightii with an opening bloom and a couple of developing buds: http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g79/Tall_Mike_Bismuth/Daturaopening.jpg And an overhead shot from a few days later: http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g79/Tall_Mike_Bismuth/wrightii-2.jpg If that looks anything like what you have, then I can help you out. First, transplanting any Datura is a bad idea, especially when the cold is beginning to set in. Datura flowers when its root system is well established, and the plant is mature. If it has a bud on it, leave the plant alone. The flower will eventually open, and a seed pod will appear a couple of weeks after. All Datura are self-pollinating. The flower itself only lasts for a night or two. Developing flowers and fruit frequently drop off when the plant is transplanted. Let's move on. Depending on which species of Datura you have, you're going to want to adjust your conditions. First, look at the stems. Do they appear furry, or smooth? If smooth, it's either Datura ceratocaula or Datura metel. Both love the heat. If the stems and/or leaves have hairs on them, then we have a few choices. The most commonly cultivated Daturas are selected for their massive flowers (as seen in my photographs), so that may help in narrowing down our identification to a few species. Datura wrightii and Datura inoxia look about the same, and both develop thick roots to withstand the winter. Datura discolor has similar appearance, but is distinguished by a coloured ring (usually a shade of violet or red) on the interior of the flower's corolla. Datura love heat, regardless of their species. Of course, I am assuming that your plant is a Datura. One way to tell off the bat is to run a couple of fingers along the underside of a leaf and smell those fingers. Datura exudes a distinctive odor when disturbed. Make sure to wash your hands after doing that, though, as Datura is an extremely toxic plant. If you can produce a photograph, I can try to pinpoint your plant's exact ID. What you should try doing is bringing the plant in the house, or some place warm (above freezing, or better yet, above 50) to extend its growing period. Put it in front of a window, glass door, or anywhere where it will receive sun. It helps to know what your plant's water requirements are right here. Most plants like water, but too much watering provides ample conditions for fungi and root rot. Datura, in particular, is a plant that doesn't need a lot of water. If we decide that your plant is a member of this genus, I would suggest giving it water every three to four days, or whenever the soil is dry again, adjusting waterings as per the plant's response.