Is anyone ready to be excited about dahlias yet?

[DesparatePragmatist]

I know the 2024 sparrow has barely farted... but my snowdrops are up, the rhubarb is showing pink buds and it's going to be spriiiiiiiinnng...

So I've put in a (possibly slightly too adrenaline-fueled) order for 8 new dahlias from Sarah R's - mixture of waterlily, pompom and anemone types in the cool white/pink/burgundy range rather than the oranges. And a last minute splurge on a cafe au lait for the fun of it. I know it's weeks till they'll arrive and weeks more till they'll do anything, but.... who's with me?

@daisychain01 - I’ve discarded that one!

Ive potted a few others, really hoping my cafe au lot is ok.

Fingers crossed for your café au lait x

How are all the dahlias doing?

I have several in a cold frame but I'm scared to put them out because of all the slugs this year. I think really it's time now but I'll be so sad if they all get eaten 😭

I mass a cake and the eggshell is drying in the oven, ready to be scattered around the dahlia shoots to hopefully stop the slugs.

I have planted my dahlia corms in large pots this time as the ones I planted 2 and a half years ago grew amazingly the first year but didn't appear the following year. I probably should have lifted them after the first year.
I have planted 5 pots and two are growing well. No signs of anything in the other 3.

I have a few tubers that just can't seem to get started, they are obviously being eaten but I just couldn't find any slugs or snails. So today I pulled the tuber out of the pot to compost it... and found ten slugs hiding in amongst it. I was almost impressed!

Most of mine are up now. Only 3 non or late starters. I’ve planted lettuce seeds in one of the “dud” pots today so that I can pop it by the back door for ease.

All my tubers are growing in a raised bed but I have had to resort to slug pellets. So far so good but only leaves so far. Everything is behind - its so cold!

I can’t believe that dahlias are in bloom in Garden centres right now. Just wrong!

My beloved grandfather, born in 1898, gassed at The Somme, survived and served as an air raid warden during the Blitz in WW2 was an absolute dahlia expert. One of my few memories of him, in the garden. It was his therapy. He won every prize at the Clapham show, year after year.

Dahlias in June is alarming!!!

I've managed to bring my dahlia on in the greenhouse and most of the ones I've planted out now have healthy leaves on them and growing well. Was going to do my cat's cradle support today but ran out of time. Next weekend is fine they're not that big I have to worry. Plenty of eggshells and mulch has kept the molluscs at bay.

i also have a large black bin bag of fresh straw which I claimed from the entrance to a farmer's field. I'd cycled past it on 2 weekends and nobody had taken it, so I grasped the nettle and my bag and will spread it on the dahlia patch. Apparently a slug deterrent, I'll give anything a try, desperate not to lose my dahlia.

@MrsSkylerWhite bless your wonderful grandfather, thank you for your service MrsSkylersgrandfather. My granny was buried alive in WWII as my grandparent's house was bombed - they lived in SW London. She survived and went on to live a long and happy life but always freaked out by any sound on TV remotely similar to an air raid siren. I inherited my love of gardening from Granny 🥰

Gosh! Tears to the eyes. Un mn hugs.

@MrsSkylerWhite bless your wonderful grandfather, thank you for your service MrsSkylersgrandfather. My granny was buried alive in WWII as my grandparent's house was bombed - they lived in SW London. She survived and went on to live a long and happy life but always freaked out by any sound on TV remotely similar to an air raid siren. I inherited my love of gardening from Granny 🥰”

Thank you. Oh my Lord, that’s just horrendous. Trying to imagine that now and it’s just desperate. But they got up and went about their business. What these ordinary/extraordinary people did has mostly been forgotten.

Sorry, OP! Don’t mean to hijack!!

There's something about flowers that connects us to those we want to remember, it's a beautiful thing. Poppies are the most obvious. I bet most gardeners have been inspired by a previous generation in one way or another, and can name a flower that they strongly associate with a particular person. So we grow those flowers while remembering them, and will forever be connected. For me, it's my granny (who also lived through WW2) and sweet peas.

For me, it's my granny (who also lived through WW2) and sweet peas.

I have a rambling rose in my garden, grown from a cutting from that rose in my mum's garden, itself grown from a cutting of the rose in my gran's garden, it grown from a cutting of a rose in my great grandmother's garden.

I couldn't name that flower because the official name has been long lost (if ever known). But it is lovely to see it bloom and know so many generations have done so.

How are your dahlias coming along?

I waited for ages to plant mine out in the hope they'd be big enough to survive, but about a third have been completely destroyed by slugs 😭

The dahlias in my back garden got decimated by slugs unfortunately, but the ones in the front garden seem to be holding up better, and are now are starting to bud. The slugs have been AWFUL this year, even with healthy doses of nematodes applied. I guess it’s because we’ve had so much rain.

I had 4 pots in the back garden, Franz Kafka (impulse buy from M&S) a no show. Café au Lait (ditto) growing well but no flowers, two dwarf mix (grown from seed and overwintered in the loft) annihilated by slugs. I been bringing them into the house overnight and they've been recovering but no flowers yet. I'm away this week and I'm worried they'll be nothing left of them when I get home.

Two pots of dwarf mix at the front (sunnier side) of my house haven't suffered a fraction of the slug damage despite being left outside overnight.

In hindsight I should have put the other pots at the front too. At least while I'm away.