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Here's a perfect thread to converse about planting time.
Some questions that can get the ball rolling...
-How are you supporting the dahlias this year? Tell us what works best for you, or if you're trying a new method.
-Any different spacing from last year?
-What amendments are you adding while you plant?
-What garden pets are keeping you company?
-How many pots/tubers do you have left over, once you fill all your beds (and sneak some into the veggie garden, beside)
POST HERE for the big "I'm done" thumbs up! Thumbs up
(We'll cheer for you, even while quietly jealous that we're not there quite yet...)
Went and picked up T-posts yesterday , have been skating by with lots of bamboo the last few years but find it unreliable for me , as my collection of proper posts grows .
Stopped at the grow ( Mom & Dads ) afterward , the rototiller fired right up for me and I proceeded to till everything over there , had lunch with the folks then home for a nap before doing some uppotting of various items .
So I believe I am ready to set posts and plant dahlia at the grow and have several beds to turn up here yet .
One question , Ted how far apart do you set your posts when you lay out a row ( I'm talking about the width of said row )? I forget how far I spaced them last season
T posts are less than 24 inches apart, maybe about 20 inches. I use 8 per 50 foot row but have at times used 10. One thing about heavy duty, 6 foot t-posts is that they truly will last a lifetime. The plates often fall off and I do not re-attach them as they are really only necessary at the ends of the rows. I pound in the posts when the dahlias are over 12 inches tall in the rows. That is only because I have only so much energy and am planting and weeding and fertilizing. I pound in about 20 or so per day rather than 200 in one day. We have several 8 foot long t posts we use to support hanging pots too. T-posts are very useful but rather ugly too. Margaret likes to paint the tops of them green so that they are all green. I use the standard t-post driver that you buy at the farm store to pound them in. A few years ago, I pulled the slammer down and missed the post and slammed the top of my skull. There was dent in my skull and I did go to the urgent care doctor to be checked out and there was no real damage. I told the doctor that I felt foolish as how could somebody miss a t-post and hit ones self in the head. He asked how many t-posts I had pounded in over the years and I responded thousands. He said it was not all that unusual to miss once out of a few thousand times.
We like to place a sign on our porch that says: We are in the garden. Really, we are always in the garden.
Ouch. I remember once losing control while lifting that steel barrel over my head to set it over a stake, and it falling onto my skull... no power except gravity, and I saw stars for quite some time. Couldn't imagine having force put behind it, too...
The young guy at TS's checking me out Friday asked why I needed so many posts. I said, "Gardening." He looked at me like I was crazy, and handed me my receipt in silence. I get a lot of those looks.
I can tell you what pet WON"T' be in my garden when I put out my dahlias...Miss Maisie Montana who never met a stick or rock she didn't want to carry around in her mouth and chew on! She loves to help me pick bouquets for my weekly customers because I Cut off nice woody ornamental branches and trim them down, leaving lots of GREAT STUFF for her. I came out the other day and found my lovely little rosebush in a pot chewed to stubs! I guess it just got pruned like I woudn't have had the guts to prune it..I better move that pot to a different (fenced) garden while it grows out. It has (had) lovely little white flowers like waterlilies.
Name: Amanda CA Redwood Coast - Zone 9b DahliaAddict.com
This may sound silly, but I've been starting to have mild panic attacks the last few times going out in the garden. I'm certain now that it's all those orders still in pots, just getting more and more overgrown. But, I pushed through it today and started shoveling worm castings and dumping out pots. It would have been much better to do this 2 weeks ago, but things are looking good. A couple orders have had one blind tuber. One enterprise which I will not name at this time had 4 duds out of 7. Definitely requesting a refund there. KA's Cloud is looking very sturdy! My one white dahlia.
Amanda, Glad you are out working things in My workers seem to be evaporating as we get closer to planting time...but somehow we will get them in. Fickle changes of plans by young folk...I might have to plant sooner then I planned to get them in while my worker is available. But it will only be a week earlier I think.
I have had 2 blind ones so far, but have a replacement coming on one. The other I wrote to the seller and got no reply..its a new intro.
4 duds out of 7!!! ..
I don't sell any at the market unless they are growing and have an eye I am definitely sure is good, circled in black marker!
Name: Amanda CA Redwood Coast - Zone 9b DahliaAddict.com
Thanks, Noni. I feel much less anxious already! Once I've gotten started, I do great.
Be careful everyone! I'll bet most people think gardening is a risk free activity. Shows what they know. We crave danger.
Everything is swamped outside. Where I have edged, it looks like a long moat protecting the bed.. glad all the tubers are tucked in their pots under lights or along the wall inside. Soon enough, they'll have to sort things out for themselves, or become compost for the next plant put in their place.
Name: Annie Luck Apex, North Carolina BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN TH
I'm glad your tubers are all safe CC! I had some rot from the flooding, so I moved what clumps I could to higher ground.
Amanda, I am hoping that you will feel less anxious as you make progress. I experience the same thing every year as it starts getting hot, and I still have so much to be planted.
Yes, relief comes from seeing those plants safely in the ground!
Good luck. So odd to think that my concern was getting them in the ground before they cooked and others are worried theirs will drown. People love to garden no matter what the climate.
I was poking around yesterday to check those that have not showed yet. Almost all were right there under the soil line, but did find 2 from this year's order that are clearly not viable. I also found 3 from those I wintered over that don't look like they will grow. So, now I have a few spots maybe I can move some that are too close together.
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