Dahlia Profile - Floret Bee's Choice Flowers
Hello friends,
Today's dahlia profile is for my Floret Bee's Choice flowers. I bought dahlia and zinnia Floret flower seeds from Emerden in New Zealand last spring, and sowed them in October.
From Floret's Website: "Floret Bee's Choice was collected from all of our different dahlia breeding patches on the farm and includes a wide range of shapes, sizes, and colors—no two plants will be the same! Most of the flowers will have open centers, which will attract lots of pollinators to your garden. If you discover a variety you love, tubers can be saved and planted out the following year." Planted in full sun, plants will reach 48 to 72 in tall.
Floret 1:
Floret 2:
Floret 3:
Floret 4:
Floret 7:
Floret 8:
Floret 10:
As you can see from the Floret Bee's Choice dahlias that have flowered so far, dahlias 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 all have yellow/orange colouring, with a range of petal numbers, with dahlias 3 and 8 having extra frills. Dahlias 7 and 10 are shades of pink, with dahlia 7 has curled inward petals, and dahlia 10 being pretty plain.
In terms of choosing which dahlias to keep at the end of the season, the only one I definitely want to keep is dahlia 3, with it's yellow/apricot colouring and pretty frills. I'm also kind of tempted by dahlia 8, but I'll see how it looks as the season goes on.
I have really enjoyed the process of dahlia growing from seed, watching the process from germination, to flowering, and I'll definitely collect seed from them in autumn.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
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Dahlia Profile - Caitlins Joy
Hello friends,
Today's dahlia profile is for the ball dahlia Caitlins Joy, which I got from Bulbs Direct a couple of years ago.
From Bulb's Direct website: "Iridescent raspberry compact blooms. Very long stems, beautiful shape, and a great vase life. A real work horse and a great arrangement flower. A must grow. Flower size of approx 10-14cm wide. Height 90 - 120 cm."
Flower bud opening:
Caitlins Joy Fully Flowering:
Caitlins Joy is a stunning raspberry red ball dahia, with long stems. This dahlia is bred for bouquets and vases, and it a super popular variety over the last few years, you have to get in quick to pick up a dahlia bulb when they go on sale in winter.
I'm so pleased to have Caitlins Joy in my garden, and get so many positive comments about her from our neighbours who see her in our front garden.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
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Dahlia Profile - Totally Tangerine
Hello friends,
Today's dahlia profile is for the anemone dahlia Totally Tangerine which I purchased this year from Bulbs Direct.
From the Bulbs Direct website: "Add a splash of tangy citrus hues to your color palette with this lively and spirited flower, Dahlia 'Totally Tangerine'. These vibrant
blooms create a buzz in any garden, flaunting coral pink petals and a bright neon orange ruffled center. This playful dahlia is always ready for a good time - let it loose in your garden and enjoy the lively show!" The plant will reach 50 - 60cm high.
Flower bud opening:
Dahlia Totally Tangarine Fully Flowering:
Totally Tangerine is just amazing. Not only am I loving the bright citrus hues of the flower petals, but I'm really now obsessed with anemone dahlias in general. This dahlia is a total keeper for me, and I can't wait for my other new anemone dahlias to start flowering in the garden.
There are five more dahlias about to flower, including some of the Floret "Bee's Choice" dahlias I grew from seed, so it's super exciting to go for a walk around the garden each morning to check them out.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
Want to discuss my post? Feel free to chat with me on Instagram or Mastodon or Bluesky.
Dahlia Profile - Keith Hammett Mystic Sparkler
Hello friends,
Today's dahlia is a Keith Hammett bred Mystic Sparkler.
I bought the Keith Hammett Mystic Sparkler dahlia from Mitre 10 back when I lived in Wellington. When we moved back home to Dunedin in winter 2019, I dug up all my dahlias and brought them down with me.
According to the breeding notes: "Dahlia variabilis ‘Mystic Sparkler’
features unique single hot
flamingo pink flowers with warm yellow halos and dark central discs on
glossy mahogany-black foliage." Mystic Sparkler will reach 51 to 76 cm
high and has flowers 10 cm wide. Mystic Sparkler is planted in the
middle of my back garden in full sun.
Flower Bud Opening:
Mystic Sparkler in full flower:
As you can see Mystic Sparkler is stunning, with it's super bright colours of pink and yellow, with beautiful striping in the petals. It really is one of my favorite dahlias of all time. Mystic Sparkler is an absolute bee magnet all summer long.
Comparison with the self-seeded seedling of Mystic Sparkler:
Comparing Mystic Sparkler and a self-seeded seedling of Mystic Sparkler, you can really see the difference in colours, but otherwise the flowers are the same shape and size, and the beautiful striping remains. I'm very happy to keep both in my garden.
Multiple other dahlias are about to flower now, so you may see another dahlia profile tomorrow...
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
Want to discuss my post? Feel free to chat with me on Instagram or Mastodon or Bluesky.
Dahlia Profile - Keith Hammett Mystic Sparkler Self-Seeded Seedling
Hello friends,
Today's dahlia is a self-seeded seedling of one of my other dahlias, Mystic Sparkler.
A dahlia with dark leaves popped up in my back garden over spring, and since I didn't plant a dahlia in that position, I concluded that it was a seedling from another dahlia in the garden. And considering that I only have two dark leaved dahlias in my garden, it was either a seedling of Mystic Sparkler or Dream Seeker, which are both Keith Hammett bred dahlias.
I bought the Keith Hammett Mystic Sparkler dahlia back when I lived in Wellington. When we moved back home to Dunedin in winter 2019, I dug up all my dahlias and brought them down with me.
According to the breeding notes: "Dahlia variabilis ‘Mystic Sparkler’ features unique single hot
flamingo pink flowers with warm yellow halos and dark central discs on
glossy mahogany-black foliage." Mystic Sparkler will reach 51 to 76 cm high and has flowers 10 cm wide. Mystic Sparkler is planted in the middle of my back garden in full sun.
My Mystic Sparkler seedling:
Flower Bud Opening:
Mystic Sparkler Seedling in full flower:
As you can see, the Mystic Sparkler seedling differs from the breeders notes. The flamingo pink and yellow colouring has been diluted into soft rosy pinks and yellows, but it has the most pretty striping ocolours. Unfortunately it looks like some earwigs have had a chomp at its flower petals before they unfurled, so she's not perfectly rounded.
I'm quite happy with the Mystic Sparkler seedling, it has more muted tones than Mystic Sparkler, and I love both, so I will keep them both in my garden. You will very soon see a dahlia profile for Mystic Sparkler, as I saw her first flowers unfurling this morning on my walk around the garden.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
Want to discuss my post? Feel free to chat with me on Instagram
or Mastodon or Bluesky.
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