Discussion of Colors, Forms or Varieties forum: Your favorite large and giant dahlias?
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| I would appreciate suggestions and feedback on large and giant dahlias that you love and why you love them. Any color and form, as long as you think it’s great. I have Ottos Thrill and am enthralled with it. I’d like to add more big dahlias alongside Otto. Anyone familiar with Grande Finale from Swan Island?  *Edited to add...I’m looking to create a bed of large flowers that my special needs family members can easily see from their living room window. A little dose of beauty when they look outside, brings a peaceful feeling. The bigger flowers are easier for my “ladies†to see and enjoy. Any larger flower that pops out and catches the eye would be great. “Early to bed, early to rise, plant like hell...and fertilize!” P Allen Smith |
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 I am a fan of the smaller blooms, but this is my "Grand Finale" |
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| Thank you for the photo! I’ll put that variety on my list. “Early to bed, early to rise, plant like hell...and fertilize!” P Allen Smith |
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| Giant Dahlias: For show people AC Ben has been the "go to" giant dahlia for a year or two now. Next year AC Jeri is undoubtedly going to be the hottest new dahlia of the year. I have heard it will be sold for about $40.00. It has good color and is an orange with a yellow center in the first part of the season and in the shade. At the end of the season it was bleached to a nearly a solid yellow. It's biggest and I do mean biggest sales point is that it is a huge dahlia. Poor gardeners can get a 13 inch flower. 14 inch flowers will be very common and who knows how big the biggest will be.  end of season  Mid August OMG from Swan Island is a very large new one too. 14 inch flowers are very possible and I have seen at least one that big. It is being sold for $34.95. In older giant dahlias the traditional largest giant is Emory Paul, that was actually measured to be 18 inches in diameter. Good stock is hard to find but it is out there. Emory Paul sported to a variegated flower called Maki and it has won largest dahlia of the year at about 15 inches. If you want the prettiest giant dahlias I am partial to Hollyhill Moonsong but it has trouble getting to 12 inches in diameter. Nick Sr. Is a favorite of many and with good stock and good growing practices it is like growing a Giant Sequoia Redwood dahlia in your yard. The main stalk is nearly 4 inches in diameter and the plant grows over 6 feet to about 7 feet and has flowers with "broomstick" stalks. They are big too and 14 inches is possible. The discussion on giant dahlias can go on and on. Wyn's Farmer John, Ivory Palaces, Bryn Terfel, Winki Colonel, Bonaventure, Sir Alf Ramsay, Creve Cour, Clydes Choice, Alfred C,, Walter Hardisty, Wyns Neon Dream, HH Big Pink, Zorro, Ayers White Knight, Kenora Clyde(one of my all time favorites, Inland Dynasty, Levonne Splinter and many more. All of these can be shown successfully and grown very large. Of course, the challenge is to find healthy stock of many of them. 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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| oh i definitely lean toward the prettiest dahlias! i’ve already started googling from your list, Ted, but i can’t find a photo or a source for HHMoonsong....bummer! “Early to bed, early to rise, plant like hell...and fertilize!” P Allen Smith |
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| HH Moonsong will probably be sold as cuttings from Cowlitz River Dahlias. We still have it but do not sell it. I am planning to grow more than usual next year. It would be more available if it made more tubers. They store ok but there are not a lot of them. I really like Moonsong but am really biased for two reasons: yes it is a Hollyhill variety but the other reason is that it is the only HH introduction that was grown from hand crossed seed done by myself. I used Ivory Palaces pollen and fertilized a "B" sized seedling that has lots of HH Electra behind it. I never did much hand pollinating and was really frustrated by the time it takes to do it properly. I wanted to get some giant ball dahlias and none of my crosses made any seeds. The cross that did not work was using Hilltop Ivan(the largest ball dahlia) with Formby Kaitlyn. Hand crossing gives you the best results in dahlia breeding but the investment in time is monumental. We should continue the thread with Large dahlias and there are many, many good ones and I will let someone else start with their list. 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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| Taum Sauk, AC Big Johnson, AC Zed and Wyn's Delta Frank are big/giant dahlias that are really generous with their flowers. Show N' Tell and Nick Sr. can be quite prolific, too. There are others whose flowers I like very much, like Penhill Dark Monarch, but only give a few flowers a season. |
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| Show N Tell is an all time favorite and although listed as "Large" it can easily be grown to giant. For the first time 10 years, we have some healthy plants of it and Margaret was able to use some flowers in her designs. Jack Almand of the San Francisco area originated it many years ago. I liked his huge flower Almand Supreme and we grew one to 14 inches. It succumbed to virus and I have not seen healthy stock anywhere. Healthy Taum Sauk is an amazing garden flower as it is so vigorous and prolific. The plant has several huge blooms on it the whole season. I suppose we ought to grow it again. 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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| Grand Finale did not like it here. Single row of petals, open centers. Not a pretty look! C DG All gardening is landscape painting. - William Kent |
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| I like Show n Tell, but I don't get many blooms from it. |
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| My favorite large flower is KA's Cloud. I don't want it huge..on fact I would like to shrink it a bit, but I love the colors in it and it does well as a cut. The shading of palest pink and yellow on it have stayed steady through the heat of summer. 3 plants of it are more then enough. Off 3 plants I could have provided 27 Clouds one week a few weeks ago! At its smallest it is about 9" across and I have no idea how big I could push it to by special care...I don't want it any bigger then that! The tubers don't want to take off...I only got into production code by removing the first sprout and rooting it separately, after which it started making more of them that were easier to grow.   Salish Dahlias |
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I am still growing the seed parent of KA's Cloud which is Ed Redd's Elma Elizabeth. When I traded with the originator of KAs Cloud, Kristine Albrecht, I got the seed parent instead. I cannot remember the other parent but maybe it was a Kenora dahlia.  Elma Elizabeth by David Brown. Elma E. Makes very nice tubers but it is a late bloomer and difficult to get seeds here in the PNW. In California it is much easier to harvest seeds. 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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| Thank you, everyone, for your help🌼 “Early to bed, early to rise, plant like hell...and fertilize!” P Allen Smith |
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| More large dahlias: Oldies but goodies include Elsie Huston  2009 national show by Satrina and Kidds Climax the old timer from the 1940s that is genetic basis for many modern dahlias. Most Mingis large dahlias were seedlings of Kidds Climax.  Ferncliff Illusion  photo by Mark Twyning 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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| AH, Elsie Huston and Ferncliff Illusion, my 2 "have to have" larger dahlias along with KA's Cloud. I figure I plant those for myself and then if anyone wants to buy them they can...I may have to add AC Twist and Wyn's Farmer John to these. I grew them for pollen/seed along side Evening GLow this summer...(We will see if they produced any of either) and I really liked them. I might grow AC Big Mary again just for fun because it was so spectacular. I would grow it at the end of a row where it has plenty of room all to itself and gets good sunshine.I am hoping it made some tubers. Even though I don't want to show any of them I do love wowing people who come into my garden and there have been quite a few this summer who stop for flowers. I imagine there will be even more next year, Salish Dahlias |
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| My daughter and I are having fun researching the varieties you have suggested. Your photos and input are much appreciated. You should hear all the oohs and aahs as we look at the photos together.😊 Here is a nice blurb on the breeding history of KAs Cloud with pics: http://www.santacruzdahlias.com/kas.cloud.html “Early to bed, early to rise, plant like hell...and fertilize!” P Allen Smith |
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| I guess I should add Penhill's Dark Monarch to my other Giants. I didn't realize I had so many I actually do like! This one doesn't make a good cut for me but it has the most delicious fall colors of salmons,pinks corals and purples touched with gold. Salish Dahlias |
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| I guess I should add Penhill's Dark Monarch to my other Giants. I didn't realize I had so many I actually do like! This one doesn't make a good cut for me but it has the most delicious fall colors of salmons,raspberry, corals and purples touched with gold. Salish Dahlias |
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 This is the best stock of Show n Tell that we have had in 20 years. 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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| Beautiful! Mine from Les and Viv seem pretty good too this year. Salish Dahlias |
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