Dahlia Delights

Some of our Dahlias are grown from Tubers that have been propagated and saved over the years, but the experimental fun with Dahlias is growing from seed. Dahlias are Octoploid - they have eight copies of every gene, compared to humans who have two copies for each gene. This means that considering only 10 different genetic sites, there are 8¹⁰ = 1,073,741,824 possible combinations.

With so many possible combinations, each seed can contain a new, unique flower. Saving Tubers gives you known flower forms, but growing from seed allows you to have brand-new cut flower forms. Last year, we saved "Bee's Choice" seeds from a favorite open-faced dahlia. This means we did not control the breeding- the bees in the gardens could have brought pollen from any other dahlia. These are planted out in one of the rows in the Hoop House at Thistle Rock. Some of the plants will be discarded, as they are not suitable for our cut flower use, but we are starting to see some keepers already. Here are some of the beauties we are falling in love with- watch for these at our Flower Events. Note that these are all first rounds of blooms ( Dahlia flowers can change through the season), and more plants have yet to bloom, so we will do an update on the keepers in September.

Even more exciting, if we decide some of these are loved in bouquets, we get to name the new flower variety!! Watch for more on naming this fall.