Discussion of Colors, Forms or Varieties forum: Bliss: any good?
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| Hi there, I was pondering whether to get that one or not. Last season I got a tuber ( if I remember correctly-not a cutting, should check on the bill somewhere...), and when it started to grow it looked fully virus-blown and I pulled it immediately. I read about it in a British book, summed up as: poor tubermaker, nice plant. Do any of you grow it for cutflowers? And does it store ok? Perhaps I should just go for another soft pink WL which is reliable. Not sure how bad it is with virus. There are a couple of German/Austrian growers, and it seems no one grows it ( except the place where I got the virused tuber from...). Could be because Bliss is too fussy? Thanks for comments or recommendations for look-alikes, bye, Lin ps:Swan Island have them in stock, not sure whether this garantees something... |
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| I haven't grown it, but Swan Island has carried it for at least ten years, so it can't be too bad. On the other hand, its price is higher than most. They do say that it makes small tubers. |
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| Bliss was terrible in my garden. Short, sick and ugly. 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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| Godd morning, Ted, out of morbid curiosity, how many did you grow, I mean, did all of your Bliss grow sick and ugly? Hmm, I think I will go for similar ones. Or I throw in one Bliss and watch zhem the coming season. Still puzzeld that Swan Island keeps them, but the price reflects probably at least their small/few tubers Thank you both very much, bye, Lin |
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| I like dahlias that grow 4 feet or taller. They should have good stiff stems. The flowers should be well formed and abundant. The plants must be vigorous and want to grow without special attention and too much support. Bliss was grown several years ago and I do not keep written records of other peoples dahlias. We selected it as we were looking for smallish waterlilies for breeding. If a plant does not have enough good traits to add to one's breeding program, it is culled. We kept the waterlily from Swan Island, Bride to Be, but even although it may have some good traits, it is not a seed maker. We continue to grow it because maybe some pollen may fertilize a random flower and we are desperate for white waterlilies for Margaret's arrangements. If a seedling that grew like Bliss appeared in our seedling patch, it would have been culled. Swan Island has 360 spots in their storage building for cultivars. I have not counted how many are listed in their catalog but it approaches 360. Every year I visit their gardens as our trial garden is located there. Every year I cruise their show garden that has some plants of each variety. I generally also walk along the ends of the rows to see the flowers growing in the fields. Bliss has been there every year for the past 10 years or so and I have no memory of it there. Everybody has different "tastes" in dahlias. My wife and I really like waterlilies and small WLs are very useful in the garden and in small bouquets and arrangements . Our "tastes" are undoubtedly influenced by our show flower training. There are many cut flowers and garden flowers that are perfectly fine for those purposes that do not appeal to our "show tastes". We have now for several years been identifying flowers in our seedlings that are candidates for cut flowers and garden flowers and have been using some cut flowers as seed parents. Breeding cut flowers is easier said than done. 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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| Thanks for all those details. yes, I like your criteria. No Bliss on the wish list any more  (I fell for it after listening to a talk by some British great head gardener: Fergus Garret, using it in a mixed border. So probably different focus/demands, if you think about it long enough...)So now, I updated my spread sheet adding new columns for "flower stalks" and "tuber production", to be filled in while the season 2016 proceeds, hopefully... have a nice weekend, bye, Lin |
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| Linaria, for what it's worth, I didn't like Bliss, either, and I really thought I would. It grew too short for my tastes, and the colors were more washed out than I like, and I really like pastels. C DG All gardening is landscape painting. - William Kent |
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