Dahlias

[lesa]

The dahlia's are of course, lovely! But, I have been waiting to see those sheep!! Very nice..

 

[RustyDHart]

Ok lesa....here goes.....1st photo: A Scottish Blackface ram "Irish Acres Highland Phantom".....2nd photo: A Scottish Blackface ewe "Irish Acres Highland April"......3rd photo is a shot of some of the Scottish Blackface flock.....lambs were about a month old.

 

[cwhit590]

Thanks....Vancouver and Babylon Pink (Rose) are both nice varieties....I show a photo of Vancouver on here somewhere...(?) I have Babylon varieties in Pink (Rose), Red, Purple, and Bronze..... If you cut nice healthy blooms...in the right conditions the cut Dahlia will last a "Good" week. I sell lots of cut Dahlias at the Farmer's Market. It's easier to use smaller cut varieties (B, BB, M sizes) in vases and arrangements....unless you have a pretty good size vase. Some of the (AA Size) much larger variety blooms can get over 12-14 inches....I've seen 17 inch at a show and a Dahlia friend of mine says he heard of one about 20 inches....That's a Pizza!!!! Here is a photo looking down some of the rows of Dahlias and some of my sheep.....http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/uploads/7566_dahlias_8_30_2009_038.jpg

Thanks for the info. Do you find that certain varieties / types / colors sell better than others at market? Are there more popular types or do they all sell equally well? Do you normally sell them on their own or do you usually mix them in different arrangements? They all look gorgeous to me so I don't imagine you have any problems selling them all....

Are they a very labor-intensive crop? Need a lot of water and extra care thru the summer?

And another dahlia question....how do you successfully divide the tubers? When we got the Vancouver and Babylon Pink tubers in at the greenhouse, they were like old stalks with all the finger-like tubers around it....we weren't sure if we could just break them all up or plant them as is (which is what we did). Can you just slice each tuber up and plant it like a potato or do you have to have a whole 'finger' with part of the top stalk connected?

So many questions.... but hey, gotta learn some how....and you are the guy with thousands and thousands of them...so who better to ask, right?

Thanks for sharing the pics. Nice sheep too!

 

[RustyDHart]

Hi.... I haven't found any variety, color, size, or shape to be more popular than another when it comes to selling the cut Dahlias. Some people do frown a little with the laciniated (fringed) varieties...I guess they must look like Dahlias with a bad "Hair day".... Dahlias DO NOT like high nitrogen... a good fertilizer would be one like a 5-10-10, or a 6-12-12, and Dahlias will take at least 1 inch of water per week. After I have mine planted....I'm VERY careful as to not disturb the surface roots....notice in some of the photos....YES...I do have weeds.... but I have HEALTHY plants. As far as digging up the tubers....I noticed there was a thread for that and I was going to wait until later in the season to respond to that...but I guess now is as good of time as any.....if no one minds? I NEVER dig my Dahlias up until the first HARD frost...not a light one where it singes the leaves....I mean when the plants are greasy and black like an old banana peel. Then I wait a few days...cut the stocks down to about 6 inches above the ground...and then you have to be VERY careful with digging up the clumps...some can be over 18 inches across....I've had tubers branch off that were over 12 inches long.... If you picture a Dahlia tuber like a soda bottle(we say "Pop" bottle here)...you have the body of the bottle...the neck of the bottle, and the mouth of the bottle.... The mouth of the bottle is the ONLY AREA of the tuber that will get shoots....if you break any of the necks of that tuber(s)...the whole thing is OBSOLETE!!! If you have smaller clumps with just a few tubers...you may leave them intact.... Larger clumps can be divided in Fall or wait 'til spring when the tubers are sending up new shoots and divide the tuber from the main stock with the mouth of the tuber intact...like taking spokes off a bicycle wheel.... I then store my tubers in Pine shavings (over one ton I used this last Fall) in the basement with a temp. of about 45 degrees is best. I have over 3,000 lbs. of tubers in the basement right now.......someone may need to call my nurse....LOL....or up my medicine... It's a weakness...."Dahlia-itis"!!!! I hope this helps? Just a "Readers' Digest" version...but it may help the newbie Dahlia grower....My best to all, Rusty Here again is a laciniated (fringed) Dahlia...."Tsuki Yori No Shisha" (Messenger from the Moon)

 

[lesa]

See, I'm weird- I like the "bad hair" day one!! Those are beautiful animals! I have never seen such wool. What do you use them for?

 

[RustyDHart]

I sell the wool and sell breeding stock to help other breeders get started....last year I had over 160 sheep....I'm down to my top 31 right now...but will have new lambs starting the end of next month. They are an old breed (about 800 yrs. old) from the Highlands of Scotland....both sexes have horns. I've had them since June 15th, 1996.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

heh! those 'bad hair' day dahlias remind me of my polish roo's crest-goes all over the place! i still find them interesting since we don't see them often at our local garden and greenhouse shops in this area. either they don't sell them or they sell out quickly and i don't get to see them.

love the look of those sheep! wish i had the land to have a small group of them! would also love to have some of the Highland cows if only i could have won that Mega Millions last week! i'd quit my job and start my farm up finally!

 

[RustyDHart]

ChickieMoma...I don't raise Polish anymore....but I do a raise the Pyncheon Bantams,,,,they have a small hairdo.... When you get the property you want...I'll surely help you get started in Dahlias and sheep. This is one of my Pyncheon pullets:

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

Rusty, i wasn't sure if you had any more gorgeous pics of your dahlias! i'm really liking those fringed dahlias this year! do you have any others like that?

btw, cute bantam 'flower' hen! i had my eye on them when i was deciding on my breeds of chickens. i ended up with bantam faverolles and cochins, which i may just focus on my favs and their color project. i'll only keep a few cochin hens for their broodiness. i've been finding the cochin roos to have an attitude i just haven't liked as much as the fav roos

 

[RustyDHart]

chickie....the pullet in the photo is of a "PYNCHEON" pullet..not a Flower Hen.....I've raised the breed for over 15 years....they are a VERY old American breed of Bantam. I like the Flower Hens too though...don't have any. I'll check my photos for other "Laciniated" fringed varieties of Dahlias that I may have....