Hey Dahlia!

This week, I am dedicating my blog post to the wonderful, beautiful dahlia, since my planter of figaro dahlias has officially <cue music> bit the dust.  Of 6 total dahlias planted in various parts of my patios in various formats, only one remains semi-healthily alive (on the vertical planter) though flowerless.  Of the ones that did bloom, there was a hot pink, yellow, and peachy pink variety, all of which I've posted photos of before, and in honor of my poor dead dahlias, I will post again:

This was really my first foray into dahlia planting.  I personally like dahlias because not only are they beautiful, they also remind me of my opa who at one point behind his house in his hobby garden (as he also had greenhouses full of plants to sell in his working days) had a whole yard 10x12' plot of tall healthy vibrant dahlias.  I don't have a photo of his dahlias, so here's an old photo of me and Opa and Oma who are awesome:

yes, it's a photo of a photo... what?

I'm not the only one who loves dahlias though.  They are really popular!  If you venture over to www.dahlia.org, you will notice that there is a whole American Dahlia Society "Promoting and Supporting the Growing, Showing, and Enjoyment of Dahlias in North America".  It's a little nerdy and a lot awesome at the same time.  These people aren't messing around!

A Dahlia Society photo contest winner

But back to the popularity of the dahlia, similar to roses, there is a huge amount of variety.  Dahlias originated in Latin American and since then have been hybridized into an enormously diverse group of flowers "in all colors but true blue" (says the Sunset Western Garden Book).  Big, small, lots of petals, just a few petals, round, spiky, tall, bushy... you name it, you got a dahlia of your choosing.  Unless you're really into blue flowers.

Technically, they are perennials that grow from tubers that you can dig up at the end of the year and keep for the following year.  (If you're me, you buy them as a baby plant and then they die and you never see the tuber...)  Plant them in full sun unless you live in the Valley where it is hot as death in which case part shade is better and water regularly.  Different sources say different things, but regular fertilizing while blooming is probably good practice.  And bloom they will, from mid-summer to first frost.  To show off your hard work indoors, pick nearly mature flowers in the morning and stand them in a few inches of warm to hot water for several hours after which point they should be good to go for display.

As for the demise of the dahlia, there are the usual issues (over or under-watering, root rot, too hot/cold, and general neglect) and there are one or two others.  I have noticed that tall dahlias tend to fall down a lot without support, much like my problem child heirloom tomato.  But my dahlias are not tall.  Nope, the death of my dahlias was, I suspect, the dahlia mosaic virus.  Yes!  Can you believe there is a specific virus that infects dahlias?  (There are actually around 12 such viruses).  The virus spreads slowly via their vector, the aphid (again with the aphids!).  The result is weird patterns, yellow spots, stunting, and distorted leaves.  Other viruses can cause leaf necrosis (ie, leaf death).  And another common problem that looks the same is the red spider mite, difficult to see without magnification.  I am not entirely sure what killed my dahlias, but here is what happened, and it slowly spread from one plant to another like a virus...  

Early effects

Later... still blooming, but yikes

So that's that.  Dahlias, it's been lovely.  I leave you with some floral eye candy of the darling dahlia.













Yes, they are all dahlias!  And lest I break some copyright law (seriously someone tell me if I'm breaking the law... I am but a newbie blogger!), the source links are here, here, here, here, and here, respectively.  Happy gardening!