Dahlia Status

It’s been a couple months and things have really moved along.

Back in March the beds were basically empty, aside from a bunch of weeds.

This past Winter was a bit harsher than the one before but still not so cold that it killed all of the ones I left in ground. So several plants did come back.

Meanwhile I started a bunch of plants in the grow racks, and as they got large enough I moved them outside.

I was a bit late getting things going, so the ones that came back on their own had a head start and began budding in late May and blooming in mid June. Some of them, such as Bride To Be, produced a lot of buds all at once. The ones I started in the grow racks are just now beginning to bloom.

The beetles haven’t been too bad this year but I do find them occasionally. The worst are probably the Japanese beetles, which eat the flowers directly.

My first real harvest was a few days ago, to get some flowers for the tables at a family gathering.

As of now I’ve basically filled the beds, but I still haven’t gotten through my stockpile from last year. I’ve given a bunch of plants away but I still have a couple dozen under the lights to deal with.