Dahlia Experiments 2025 - Growing Dahlia Seedlings
Hello friends,
As part of my dahlia growing experiments this year, one of my goals is to grow my own dahlia plants from seed. I have a stash of dahlia seed available, including the Bee's Choice dahlia variety from Floret in the USA (which I bought from Emerden last year), Beeline I and II dahlia seeds from the breeder Doctor Keith Hammett in New Zealand, dahlia seeds from Susie Ripley's garden in Dunedin, and also open pollinated seeds from my own garden.
At the end of August, once I was able to garden again after my second cataract surgery, I sowed my dahlia seeds into two covered seed trays, and sprinkled them with enough seed raising mix to cover them.
With them watered, and kept moist in the trays, the dahlia seeds stayed in our dining room in the warmth while they germinated. To my surprise, most of the dahlia seeds I planted germinated, at a rate of about 95%, which is way more dahlias than I expected to plant in my garden this year.
They grew nice and strong, and soon they were ready to transplant out into bigger pots with potting mix. They've been growing safe and sound in my glasshouse since then, growing bigger each week. My plan is to plant them in the garden after the last frost, but for now I have to figure out where I'm going to put 43 dahlia seedlings...
I can't wait to see what dahlia flowers appear from these seedlings over the summer. My plan is to be quite harsh with them, and I'll pull out any flowering plant that I'm not happy with, to give other dahlias room to grow. I'll give you updates as I go...
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
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King Seeds And Egmont Seeds Seed Haul
Hello friends,
Over the course of this winter I bought seeds from both Kings Seeds and Egmont Seeds, for growing vegetables, herbs, and flowers in the garden this growing season.
First up are the seeds from Kings Seeds, where I bought carrot, spinach, onion, and rocket vegetable seeds for the vegetable garden this spring. I also got a bunch of herb seed varieties including, parsley, feverfew, chamomile, catnip, catgrass, calendula, and basil seeds. I also bought a few flower seeds including zinnia, cosmos, yarrow, and dwarf lupin.
From Egmont Seeds I bought a pile of seeds including cucumber, capsicum, chickpea, stevia, thyme, and lavender, along with a bunch of new pansy varieties after I fell victim to the pansy mania hitting the world at present. Egmont seeds have a great range of pansy seeds available, with lots of varieties with frills and pretty colours that I haven't seen before.
I can't wait to see the plants that grow from all these seeds in the coming spring and summer, and then the harvests and flowers I will get from them...
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
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Sowing Ranunuculus Seeds
Hello friends,
Three weeks ago I finally got around to sowing the ranunculus seeds I bought from Bud & Bloom back in January. The seeds don't germinate in hot weather, so I had to wait until late March when we start to get cooler mornings.
I pulled out my new seed sowing tray protector and got to work. I'm so pleased that I invested in buying it earlier this year, as it cuts down on mess big time, and it's so much easier to sow seeds.
I sowed one seed per cell, and gently covered each ranunculus seed with vermiculite as suggested in the instructions that came with the seeds. I gave them a good watering and stored all the seed trays undercover in the woodshed where it is cool for most of the day.
Now came the patiently waiting part, as ranunculus are notoriously slow at germinating, usually taking 2 - 3 weeks to germinate. Each day I checked on the seed trays and kept the vermiculite damp.
Two weeks after seed sowing, a single ranunculus seedling popped it's head above the vermiculite, and then another and another over the next few weeks.
Quite a few seedlings have come up now, and they are slowly growing in their seed sowing cells. Over the coming weeks they'll grow their underground root systems, and then as the weather gets even cooler, the plants will grow more leaves. I can't want to see lots of ranunculus plants flowering in spring this year.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
Want to discuss my post? Feel free to chat with me on Instagram or Mastodon or Bluesky.
Ranunculus Seeds from Buds and Bloom, and a new Gardening Tool
Hello friends,
I was scrolling on Instagram recently, and came across a New Zealand flower seed business called Buds and Blooms Flower Farm. They were currently selling French and Italian ranunculus seeds in the most gorgeous colours. Before you could even say "shut up and take my money", I'd filled up my online cart and bought a bunch of ranunculus seeds for me to grow this March, for flowering next spring.
I bought the following ranunculus varieties:
* Bianco Sfumato, an Italian variety, "Shades of white, ivory and cream with a flush of pink. A fully double, luxuriant flower."
* Pastello 1, an Italian variety, "The perfect pastel mix of dreamy blush, pink, salmon and peach."
* Pastello 2, an Italian variety, "The perfect pastel mix of dreamy blush, pink, salmon and peach! This blend is heavier on the darker blush and salmon/peachy tones."
* Amandine Purple Jean, a French variety, "Gorgeous Mauve and purple blooms with a slight soft scent."
* Rosa, an Italian variety, "Rosa is one heck of a producer! Long, strong stems with the most perfect double pink bloom."
* Rosa Chiaro, an Italian variety, "Rosa Chiaro is a gorgeous, delicate Italian Ranunculus with it's pretty and delicate coloring. Long stems producing flowers in the most
perfect range of soft pinks."
I am very excited to start all these ranunculus varieties from seed this coming autumn, and then overwinter them in the glasshouse this winter, before planting them out in spring.
And as a bonus I get to use my newly purchased Potting Bench Tidy Tray for potting them out this autumn. I've wanted one for ages, but no one in New Zealand makes them. Occasionally, they're imported into the country from England, but they tend to get sold out very fast. Last month I managed to buy two at Nichol's Garden Center, and I gave one to my sister for her birthday, and kept one for me. No more messy seed sowing and potting mix everywhere!
Summer is coming to an end pretty quick, with the nights getting darker now earlier, and some of the deciduous tress in our neighbourhood are already starting slowly to change colour. It's sad to think that summer will be gone soon, but I'm now excited to be sowing seeds in March for the coming spring in September.
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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