I picked up the new Danny Boy, and new stock of HH Tigress from the Boley's. I also just ordered HH Bewitched from Old House (just opened up in January BTW). It's one of the few non-show dahlias I ordered this winter. I'm going to be doing some limited cut flower sales again this year again and felt this was a must have for that.
We're defiantly growing Tigress again this year and we ordered Pink Tigress from Mr Sparenberg .
Another of my favorite variegated dahlia was Sandia Tiger , great color and very attractive in the garden .
I got 2 Avignon from DG last year in trade. They were late starters, but bloomed well once they got going. However I didn't get a viable tuber from either plant. The tubers were few and skinny, and they turned to sponge very soon after digging them.
Avignon is usually available as pot tubers from places like Van Bourgondien's or Breck's. Just Google it.
JL Mayra. Awful late season photos taken with the cell phone. It is actually a nice bright yellow with no center issues until very late in the season .
The sport of Akita called Avignon is very nice looking. I believe that most of you have noticed that Akita(plus sports) and to some degree Akita No Hikari are the only dahlias that have "spoon" shaped petals. Akita was bred in Japan and of course they have been growing chrysanthemums there for centuries. That petal shape is common on chrysanthemums. Margaret loved Akita No Hikari and found out that even if it did not make seeds for us, that it did make some pollen. She used that pollen and one of our older varieties is the result. I will keep you guessing since it is Winter and we have lots of time.
We like to place a sign on our porch that says: We are in the garden. Really, we are always in the garden.
teddahlia wrote:The sport of Akita called Avignon is very nice looking. I believe that most of you have noticed that Akita(plus sports) and to some degree Akita No Hikari are the only dahlias that have "spoon" shaped petals. Akita was bred in Japan and of course they have been growing chrysanthemums there for centuries. That petal shape is common on chrysanthemums. Margaret loved Akita No Hikari and found out that even if it did not make seeds for us, that it did make some pollen. She used that pollen and one of our older varieties is the result. I will keep you guessing since it is Winter and we have lots of time.
So the resemblance is more than coincidence. I have assumed that Vancouver was a sport of Akita, and I can see Avignon as a sport of that, so I guess it makes sense in a roundabout sort of way. So no one has managed to get the "spoon" shaped petals into a seedling?
Question: what is the difference between Akita and Akita no Hikari?
And if Avignon is the clue, I would guess Hollyhill Candy Stripe as your variety.
Akita has spoon type petals all over whereas Akita No Hikari just has them towards the center. It was said by a person in the know that the names were mixed up the first year and it was never straightened out. No not Six in One. The seedling has won several best of types in shows and everybody would be growing it if it did not fade a bit(well more than a bit).
We like to place a sign on our porch that says: We are in the garden. Really, we are always in the garden.
I have been buying the "Akita variety" set from Dutch Gardens since 2008, mainly to get another variegated one like I had then. I never had another one like it, though it still appears in the ads. It looks like what is called Cambridge now.
Art Act is the darkest combination of colors of any variegated I have seen. It has an almost purple base(light purple, dark lavender, dark pink, words are insufficient) and the darkest purple(maroon purple, black red) spots and streaks. I tried once and it was a poor grower.
Hollyhill Tempest has much of the same coloration. Tempest is just the opposite of Art Act as it is a monster plant that will not stop growing, reaching 7 feet easily. The tuber clumps are equally monstrous and a royal pain in the A.. to divide as they are so heavy and crammed with over sized tubers. It would be a great flower if it were "floriferous". Huge plant and just one or two flowers at a time. But the flowers do look great in a flower design. We no longer sell Tempest(maybe next year) but Old House Dahlias has it. Mark Harvey loves it and is willing to put up with the huge bush and tubers to get those exotic looking flowers that he sells for a premium to the florists. By the way, we should have named it Medussa.
We like to place a sign on our porch that says: We are in the garden. Really, we are always in the garden.
Hmmm, Maybe that would be a good one to get and leave in the ground, mulched, over the winter here where MOST YEARS they survive. But I made my Old House order yesterday. I'll wait until next year I guess....
I'll wait until next year I guess....
