Saturday, April 21, 2012

Dahlia Cinderella

This is the first dahlia we ever grown. Bought a punnet of Dahlia "Cinderella" seedlings in 2010 at our local nursery. Some were grown in pots and some on the garden ground soil. They are easy to grow. However, have to watch out when they are young seedlings as snail or slugs like to munch on them. Dahlia "Cinderella" is a mini size dahlia it grows less than 30cm.
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I was not planning on collecting seeds or dahlia tubers at that time. The plant got completely dried and died in autumn when the weather cools down. The first blooming season  we had with this dahlia in 2010 was late spring. I wanted to use the pots that were growing dahlia cinderella for other plants and found some dahlia tubers inside the pot. 
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So I kept those dahlia tubers in a paperbag and brought them inside to see how they grow when spring comes. I tried to see whether there are any tubers from dahlia plants that we grow on the garden ground soil. However, there were none tubers from the plants there. Did it get rotten with all the watering because before I realised we can get tubers from them I planted other cool season plants at that site. The pots that were grown dahlia was not water after all the plants dried. It is interesting that the garden teaches you lots of things and you find so many new things discover unintentionally. Lesson to learn: don't water the plants when you intend to collect tubers or bulbs from it. Let it dried of naturally when the blooming season has past. My excuse is I was not planning to collect any tubers at that time.
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Spring came in year 2011 , the weather gets warmer and I check how the tubers are doing. They are some rhizomes (correct me if I use the wrong term) sprouting from the tubers. I gave some dahlia tubers to my mother, but I am usually worried that she over-water them. Only a few were left for my fun experiment in our garden.
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Planted the tubers and several weeks later some shoots poke out from the soil.
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It is really interesting to see how different the blooming season of dahlia can be when you bought it from nursery or grow your own from seeds or bulbs. I don't used any fertilizer for our plants during any of their growth stages.
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When did the dahlia "Cinderella" bloom this time around?
Looks like a tree dahlia young shoot at this stage.

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The first bloom was in autumn.
Not like its parent.
But I think this is normal from growing your own from tubers or seeds.
Its the correct dahlia cycle following the season and expose outdoors.
Its not from a greenhouse and boost by fertiliser.
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To judge how big is the bloom size, compare with the portulaca flower that bloom near it.

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Of course we cannot resist collecting the seeds too.
We collected some seeds in 2011 from the original parents but by the time I remember about them sitting in my seed box its was probably too late to sow them. Growing from seeds will be this 2012 end of the year project. Plants that are grown from tubers will be the exact copy or clone of its parents. Wonder how the dahlia will look from seeds? Will it be only one colour or multi-colours.

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We finally have some rain today after very warm weather.
Have a lovely weekend.

20 comments:

Sunray Gardens said...

That is a lovely flower. Worth sowing your seeds for some additional ones.

Cher Sunray Gardens

rainfield61 said...

I never know my "Cinderella" is so dirty, muddy and ugly.

Jennifer said...

The yellow dahlia is very pretty. I have never heard of anyone growing dahlia from seeds and so this should be a very interesting experiment. I will be fun to see what color will emerge.

JGH said...

I never though of growing dahlia from seed -- I've always put in tubers. Unfortunately, I am not very good at digging up and storing them:( The cinderellas are beautiful - hope they re-appear for you!

Sean L said...

They are such a delight to grow from tubers. Much less fuss than from seeds.

Sean L said...

Planting dahlias from seeds can be fun though, you never know what you are going to get.

Sue Garrett said...

We have deided to grow dahlias from seed each year as storing the tubers is a bit hit and miss.

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

So pretty. Always worth trying to get more plants from tubers or seeds.

Stephanie said...

I didn't dig my dahlia tubers that was in the pot and won't have the chance to do os as I think they have rotted a long time ago due to the frequent rain. Your close monitoring of the progress of your dahlia is so comprehensive. It almost feels like everything was done in a short time. Great job and what a wonderful project. Have a great Sunday!

Unknown said...

Thats great learning....And a great post too....

I love the bee holding up the board with your Blog tag. Its really pretty.

Jama said...

I didn't know dahlias can be grown from tubers! But the flowers are so pretty.

kitsapFG said...

Those are beautiful dahlias - makes me wish I had some growing somewhere on the property!

Wendy said...

Dahlias are sooo pretty. I might just replace the lemon grass in my big container up front with a dahlia.

cathy@home said...

I love Dahlias that yellow one is such a happy colour.

Sue Catmint said...

dear diana, I am so impressed the way you worked out how to grow new plants from the tubers and now you will grow new plants from the seeds. Look forward to seeing what colour the babies will be. cheers, cm

cookingvarieties said...

hi diana, my mom]s dahlias are above 5 feet tall, wonder what kind and they do have tubers, but we never see any seeds.
must be a very different variety.
happy gardening and harvesting

Malar said...

Dahlia from seeds? I never succeed in growing them.... You must really have green lucky thumb! ;)

lena said...

you mean growing plants in greenhouse will flower more quickly?

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Cher~I have to wait for warm season to come again as now night has been cold. Can't wait.

Rainfield61~Cinderella still living with her stepsisters and not yet meet her dream prince.

Jennifer~Yes it will fun to see what colour it will produce. I did saw this dahlia cinderella seeds selling in our local seeds company. That is why I am eager to try it.

JGH~I am still not very good at storing them too. But I guess it is something that must be experienced several times.

Sean L~I guess tuber is easier an a clone. Seeds need perfect timing as they probably rot much faster if its too wet or cold.

Sue~I was looking forward how your dahlia tubers are doing since I remember clearly that you stored a big amount of them last year. I am looking forward to see them blooming again in your allotment. Will be nice how they do with seeds too Sue.

Gardener on Sherlock Street~Yes it fill up the garden space from extra plants and save trips and money from getting them at the nursery.

Stephanie~It does look like a short time but its an observation from 2010!Been keeping this post in draft for future post. Finally got them posted and only for the tuber parts. Not seeds yet however. Maybe just checking your dahlia tuber in case there still some.

Sri Ranjani~The board is from a friend, very talented. I hope this post will be useful to others.

Jama~Dahlia is much easier to grow from tubers.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

KitsapFG~You still have time to grow them! Especially now you have more sun after the clearing.

Wendy~I am amazed that your lemon grass survived your cold weather.

Cathy~Yellow always so cheerful aren't they.

Catmint~The garden always give me something new to discover.

Cookingvarieties~Wow your mom dahlia sure is tall.It must be a different variety since the one we grow are very small size. Happy Cooking!

Ewa~Surely Sunny:).

Malar~Nah just lucky. We bought the original from the nursery and the fertiliser in the pot maybe boost them up. I am lazy I rarely do fertilise my plants.

Lena~Yup because greenhouse have more constant temperature and warmth to start the dahlia earlier. Dahlia probably won't grow that easy if the weather still below 18 degrees C.