Mixed flower gardens - Southern Ontario, Canada

Quite the dahlia collection!!
Some of which I haven’s seen since I was a child!! My mother also had quite the collection!

Thank you for the memories!!

-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a

BEAUTIFUL Dahlias and I love the Brugmansias. They are such an unusual plant.

Thanks for posting pics of your flowers!!!

-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" -- Royal Oak, MI - Zone 5

Fantastic blooms…Hmmm? I wonder what your favorite flower could be. ;)

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20

Lovely dahlias, and fantastic brugmansias! What targets to aspire to for future years!

-- the day you quit learning is the day you quit living.

wow… that’s a lot of varieties. The colours are wonderful and your photos are gorgeous as well!
thanks for sharing.
got any more?

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

The most beautiful collection of dahliias I have seen for a long time.The brugs are really beautiful and full too.Thanks for sharing.

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

4 a second I thought I was looking at plant stamps

-- Central northish Ontario

Wow! Those dahlias are wonderful! My Dad could grow beautiful dahlias like that. He would dig the roots in the fall and store them under the house—we didn’t have a basement. Your collection is certainly impressive. And the brugmansias are pretty impressive as well. I would guess you have a greeenhouse for winter growing?
I have to mention that little pink poppy in one of the first pics—-so pretty. Enjoyed all your pictures.

-- 'To plant a Garden is to believe in Tomorrow'

Are you taking cuttings?

Bob

-- I want to believe in a lot of things but, in the meantime I have to deal with the truth

Bob, I have done many cuttings from tubers, but I haven’t ventured into bud cuttings. Frankly I hardly have room for more, although it can be a lucrative thing to do in the spring, and a good way to get rid of all those extra pots. LOL.

Iris, no, I don’t have a green house. Most of my brugs go into the cold cellar for a 4 month nap, with a little watering every 3 weeks. The variegated ones, and a couple of others have to stay in the house. Some of them take over valued space in my wife’s art studio, and some are in our dining room.

-- jroot

Was wondering jroot if you could give me a bit of advice for the coming fall/winter. This is my first year growing Dahlia’s. Have admired them for years in other’s gardens. I intend to dig up the bulbs in the fall. Could you tell me the timing of when I should dig (when they are completely done flowering, died back, still have a few leaves???) and how would I store them. I have a basement … I thought in a box with wood shavings (hubby is a woodworker), but not sure. I really appreciate any advice you can give me. Thank you!!! :-)

-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" -- Royal Oak, MI - Zone 5

GrammaT,

I love dahlias, but always have more than enough tubers to get me going in the spring. I usually end up giving the extras to the local horticultural society for their fundraiser.

Many dahlia growers say that one should wait until after the 1st frost. Dahlias cannot take the frost, and the stem and leaves will turn black. However, the tubers under the soil should still be okay, and they will try to send out new shoots. These are noted in the form of eyes. These will be the new shoots.
See the following link for many instructions as to recognizing these: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/dahlia/msg041343391520.html

You will note that the eyes form near the top of the tuber where it joins the stem. I usually cut off the stem about 2 inches above the soil, and take them into the garage to dry ( a little ). I don’t want them to shrivel.
Personally, I like to dig them up just prior to the 1st frost, cut off as I indicated above; dry them a little; clean them up with a soft tooth brush; a pail of water and a hose; let them dry some more; dust them with a bulb dust; label and wrap them loosely in a recycled plastic grocery store bag or paper bag; place the bags into a cardboard box, and put them into my cold cellar for the winter. The cold cellar is about 40 degrees F, but does not freeze. They will not tolerate freezing, nor do they tolerate a warm cellar as they will go moldy.

I worry about the wood shavings. If they are moist, the tubers may develop mold. If the shavings are really dry, they may leach the moisture from the tubers. Some people use peat moss, but peat moss tends to take the moisture from the tubers, and they don’t make it to the next spring. You could however, spread shavings above and around the plastic bags so that the temperature fluctuations are not too severe. As you will note from the link above, I start mine early in end of March or early April, and get them acclimatized in May. That way, I have flowers a long time before my peers. ... just a helpful hint.

You will note from the following link, that there are many questions you may have about your dahlias.: http://search.gardenweb.com/search/nph-ind.cgi?term=jroot&forum=dahlia&forum_name=Dahlia
Don’t be afraid to check it out. There are a lot of good lessons to be learned there.

Have fun gardening.

Oh, I note from your info that you are 52 and a grandmother of 5. What am I doing wrong? My wife and I are 61, with no grandkids. My son is thinking about it, maybe, sometime, but not sure. His wife is saying, ” Let’s get it one. If we are going to do it, it had better be soon.” Frustrating…..no lineage….no kids to play with….no kids to show the wonder of gardening. What am I doing wrong? LOL

-- jroot

Thanks for all the info … I’m going to check this ALL out. I do love the Dahlia’s I am growing this year and look forward to adding more next year.

LOL!!! Well hubby and I do LOVE our grandkids … they are a lot of fun and very dear to Ganma and Papa’s hearts!! Can spoil them rotten and send them home!!! HAHAHAHA!!! Not sure what we did – LOL!!! Our oldest son had his—bam, bam and was done, along with raising his wife’s boy. Soooo two grandboys and a granddaughter there (13, 7 & 6); then our youngest, our daughter, has two; a little boy and our littlest granddaughter (3 & 1) and wanting 2 more. Our middle son is just playing Uncle these days; no wife, nor children, but would like both at some point. LOL!!Our daughter told us we need to hurry and get relocated to Arizona cuz she will need help with the 3rd and 4th when they come along (terrible job, but someone has to do it! hahaha!!!) Actually all our kids/grandkids are out in Arizona now; with us, hopefully, soon to follow. Not so easy to pick up and go when you are “older” ... something about mortgages, jobs … yah, know little things like that. :-)

-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" -- Royal Oak, MI - Zone 5

Hi, I joined Gardentenders just to ask you how you get your Brugmansia to flower. I have a plant which I take out each summer, but by the time it begins to flower, the frost sets in.

Loved all your pics.

Im in Cdn Zone 5b.

-- My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~H. Fred Ale

Hi pixy242. Welcome to GT.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you re your question. I just returned home in the wee hours this morning from a trip to Scotland.

1) What kind of brugmansia do you have? Some are more proific bloomers than others. I have one that sent up HUGE stems, but started to bloom just before I left the country and had to bring her indoors. Others, bloom readily. On my variegated, I believe that I had 3 flushes of blooms this year. My apricot coloured one that I thought was dead this spring, surprised me with several good flushes.

2) Where are they located when outdoors? I find that mine like to have sun and heat. The ones that get at least 6 hours of direct sun a day do better than those with less.

3) When do you take them out? I take mine out in early May, but have to move them back to the garage if it threatens frost or really cool weather. This gives them a good start for blooming.

4) Have your plants been taken from cuttings above the “Y”? Brugs will not bloom until they start to form their own “Y”. If the cuttings are taken above the “Y”, they tend to bloom more readily.

5) How often do you fertilize? I fertilize mine each week until the end of August, and then I stop. They are a hungry plant, and grow quickly with the fertilizer. Without it, they don’t produce as many flowers or as much foliage.

6) How do you store them in the winter? I have tried manyi differing ways to store them. I found the ones that I stored indoors in normal room temperature tended to set flower buds earlier than those that were in the cold cellar. However, I had to watch them more for bugs and keep on top of spider mites. Last year, the numbers were minimal because I took extra care when I brought them indoors to wash the plant and spray with insecticide and then wash them again before I brought them indoors for the winter.

-- jroot

That brugmansia is brilliant.Mine hasnt bloomed for the last 5 years.

You have beautiful Gardens JRoot !

-- Central northish Ontario

Hi jroot,

Iv’e had this plant that I propagated from a cutting for the last 3 years I think. It has a Y now.

I have put it in the ground in full sun in different spots. The first year, it bloomed late, but I had a few beautiful yellow flowers, similar in look, if not abundance, to your pic above. Last year, it didn’t bloom at all (it had overwintered in a dimly lit basement) This year after overwintering it upstairs under better light and heat, I put it near the front of the house, hoping the reflected heat from the house would help, but its been a relatively cool summer and by the time the buds appeared it was late September. I didn’t have problems with bugs, but the indoor leaf had a tendency to fall off easily if disturbed.

I intend keeping it in a pot like you do and not disturbing the roots in the spring and fall.

What type of fertilizer do you use? maybe I should give it one high in phosphorus?

tks again.

pixy242

-- My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~H. Fred Ale

I use mainly Miracle Grow 20-20-20 but sometimes give it the bud booster version. I found that if I give it the bud booster version too frequently, the leaves turn yellow, and then it needs a feeding of epsom salts.

The leaves dropping is a normal thing when it is indoors. I usually cut all my large leaves off before bringing the plants indoors, and that helps a lot, but there is still a lot of dropage as you mention.

Have fun. Have you had her bloom indoors? Amazingly strong scent!

-- jroot

Tks for the tips jroot. Will send you pics of my success (fingers crossed) next year.

pixy242

-- My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~H. Fred Ale