It occurred to me that I haven’t done a dahlia post yet. We’ve reached their preferred daylight length, so almost all of them have bloomed at this point. The pictures above are in bloom order – the first two got things started early in July.
Technically, the Rhubarb and Custard tuber I bought this year was an earlier bloomer, but there’s clearly something wrong with that tuber. The plant and the flowers are stunted. So that’s not going to move on from this year. Only one of the new tubers hasn’t bloomed yet, but it does have buds, and looks healthy.
I’m pleased with Lady Darlene – she’s always been the most delicate of my holdover tubers. I almost gave up on her last year, but decided to get her in the ground this year, and I’m glad I did. She’s looking really healthy this year, and wasn’t the last to bloom. And I have three other really healthy buds already developing.
Both whites are looking a little ratty – the Japanese beetles are going after the flowers. Fortunately, the plants are effected.