Well since my last post I have turned 40 (1st March) been bogged down with a really nasty cold but I have been doing some bits here and there. I have lifted the dahlias left in the ground and they seemed healthy. I have potted these up and taken some tubers off the parent plants and just winged it and put these in some compost. I have done everything backwards - but I picked healthy tubers with eyes showing and just went with it. (some great videos on youtube on dahlia propagation) As I have ordered more tubers if they all take we will be over run! The tubers I lifted and put in dry compost and stored in the shed did not survive, they succumbed to mould, perhaps a sign there to dust with fungicide next year, but an organic one of course. Some people treat their dahlias like annuals, as do people with tulips.....I can see the ease of doing this, but seems wasteful, and I like trying to propagate - plants for free why not! But with tulips I can see why some people do it, you can change your colour schemes and especially if grown in pots and don't want to lift and store them. You can reduce the risk of disease like tulip fire and such like.
Anyway pic below of some of the tubers I lifted from the dahlia border. They look healthy and have survived the frost!
My new dahlia tubers have arrived, need some more compost to pot up in the 3 litre pots.
Bit of a puzzle last year I planted some Hill Crest Royal tubers, they came up and were lovely plants but they were very different to the ones I thought I had ordered. Well it appears several people have mentioned this and the lovely lady at Sarah Raven has sent me three more tubers as replacement this year.
The dahlia in the foreground is my Hillcrest Royal. For info the dark red ball dahlia behind is Jowey Mirelle.
Compare this with the Hillcrest Royal one advertised - I really do think I got different tubers!
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