Discussion of Colors, Forms or Varieties forum: Light Blends
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I remember a trial garden judge who said, "If I see another light blend dahlia in our trial garden, I would like to pull it out." There are lots of light blend dahlias and it' s a shame that they are all bunched together in the classification book and not broken out by colors. They are some of the prettiest dahlias.  Amy K We like to place a sign on our porch that says: We are in the garden. Really, we are always in the garden. |
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| Even though I'm not a "pink" person, I like some of them. That one is pretty. |
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Well you can't mention light blends without mentioning one of the best dahlias ever created - Pam Howden. Once, it lived in ADS color "orange" and now more properly considered a light blend. It seems to be a dahlia that looks different as the weather changes; and looks a bit different in everyone's yard. It's like a "technicolor" dahlia. One thing stays the same - perfectly shaped waterlily blooms. Will there ever be a water lily that rivals it??  |
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| I think you're right. Pam Howden rules. |
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| My wife Margaret has been using Pam Howden pollen on her hand crosses for several years now. She has gotten some very nice seedlings. It is a shame that only about one in 40 flowers of Pam Howden even makes pollen in our garden. And Pam Howden has never produced any seeds for us. She has taken a Pam Howden seedling and crossed it back to Pam Howden and the resultant cross has 75% of Pam Howden genes. I bet she will try to cross it back to Pam Howden again. That would be about 87% of the genes. This is all said easier than done. It takes a lot of time to hand cross dahlias the proper way. As much as we like Pam Howden the flower, it is not the most vigorous grower in our garden. It needs to be staked carefully as it wants to fall over. Show people who show it successfully tend to grow a large number of plants, more so than many show varieties. It also needs some shade to preserve it well blended colors.  We like to place a sign on our porch that says: We are in the garden. Really, we are always in the garden. |
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| Light blend certainly has a lot of flowers in the classification book. There are 27 in one category B SC LB and 22 in BB FD LB. And there are lots more in other classes. We like to place a sign on our porch that says: We are in the garden. Really, we are always in the garden. |
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| It is appropriate to note here the ADS definition of 'Light Blend,' as I always mistake it for just meaning having a white or lighter center... ----- LIGHT BLEND: Blends dominated by the lighter tints and tones of pink, yellow, lavender, and other pastels; also two-toned varieties of pastel tints and tones in which the central rays are of a different color than the marginal rays. Ignore white when determining a light or dark blend. ------ And after I reread this, I really KNOW I'm mistaken, but not sure how!  Anyone want to take a stab of simplifying this obtuse definition?Perhaps, "two blended colors that are both light?"  CC |
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Clearview Arlene was a light blend that won me a blue ribbon at the only flower show I successfully registered for in time. I also got a yellow ribbon with the Pam Howden I had at the same show. I think todgor gifted me that Clearview Arlene tuber, that thing produced an ungodly amount of blooms.  |
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| Light and dark blend are easy to remember if you just look to see how dark the darkest colors are on the bloom. If they are are very dark colors as defined by a bunch of color chip numbers, the bloom is a dark blend. And if the darkest colors on the bloom are not very dark as defined by another set of color chips, it is a light blend. The lighter colors on the bloom can be any color and white is often paired with some dark colors to create a dark blend. Because there are so many color combinations that fit these definitions, the classes tend to be way too big and lots of really nice flowers must compete against each other in the shows. When you breed dahlias, there are many more blooms that are light blends and to a lesser extent dark blends in the seedlings than solid colors. It is more difficult to breed nice solid color flowers, especially those that are our favorite shades of the basic colors. A fully saturated pure red flower is not a real common seedling for example. We like to place a sign on our porch that says: We are in the garden. Really, we are always in the garden. |
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teddahlia wrote:Light and dark blend are easy to remember... If they are are very dark colors as defined by a bunch of color chip numbers, the bloom is a dark blend. And if the darkest colors on the bloom are not very dark as defined by another set of color chips, it is a light blend. Got it! So when trying to determine if a variety is a light blend without your classification guide, shuffle through the color chips for a quick comparison, then check the classification guide to see if they match. What could be simpler?  Well, perhaps our next project would be coming up with a clearer division of light blends and lobbying ADS to take up the new classification.  (that would be a joke. Just in case someone actually thinks I'm serious. Which I am not.  )CC |
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