Lying to plants

Okay folks, I am VERY proud of what you see below.

 My Dahlia imperialis, which I got from Annie's Annuals, is flowering. In my garden. In Michigan. In August.

If you are not familiar with this dahlia, you may not get why that is so exciting. Here's the deal: Like regular dahlias, this species isn't hardy here. Unlike regular dahlias, it normally blooms in November. As in, when my garden is generally under several feet of snow. Getting Dahlia imperialis flowers normally an impossibility without a greenhouse in these parts.

But I have one flowering anyway. Right now! Because I know something: These dahlias, like most fall and winter flowering plants, are triggered to bloom by the long nights of winter. So, I merely tricked them, using... The Trash Can of DECEIT!!! (Bum-ba-bum!)

Also works on humans. Short days trigger my urge to buy seeds

Back in the end of June, I started placing the Trash Can of Deceit over my Dahlia imperialis every afternoon at 4, and taking it off again the next morning at 8. The foolish dahlia, tricked by my fiendish plan, therefore thought the night was 16 hours long, rather than the only 9 hours of darkness we actually get here in June, and so started getting ready to flower.

A little less than a month after I started using the Trash Can of Deceit, I spotted the beginnings of a tiny flower bud on my plants. Knowing my plan had worked, I stopped covering the plant every day. Too late, the dahlia released its mistake. It wasn't winter after all! But the bud was already growing, nothing it could do to stop that now.

Ha ha! The fool!

And so, I am the proud owner of a blooming Dahlia imperialis. It is only 2 feet tall instead of the 8 it would normally reach because I interrupted its growing when it was just getting started, but still, I am very, very proud.

Fabulous but forgotten

This post is part of a group blogging project on great old fashioned plants... see links to the other amazing contributions at the bottom of the page.

When I was in Buffalo last summer, we visited a public trial gardens. They had planted out all sorts of the newest, latest, greatest, and most exciting new varieties of annuals and perennials. And then there was a row of Dahlias. Big, impossibly lovely dahlias.

As people leaned in for photos we chatted with the director of the gardens, and he said the dahlias weren't actually part of the trial. He'd just had some extra space, so he stopped at the local big box store, grabbed some random dahlia tubers and put them in to fill the spot.

And they were totally stealing the show – and not just with us, he said everyone who visited commented on them.

Let me repeat that: all the newest, most exciting, hot-off-the-press varieties couldn't hold a candle to a handful of random, no-name dahlias.

photo credit

 Sometimes really great, slightly old-fashioned plants get lost in the flurry of everything that is exciting and new. New is great – I love new plants (and like making new plants) but I think it is time we took another look at dahlias.

photo credit

Quickly, let me run down why dahlias are so freaking awesome.

photo credit

You can get them just about anyway you want them: Tall plants, short plants, tiny flowers obnoxiously huge flowers, doubles, singles, simple, frilly, reds, yellows, pinks, mauve, purplish, basically any color at all except blue. They bloom all summer, have not serious pest problems, and some even have lovely dark purple-red foliage. They look great in the garden, and they are spectacular as cut flowers.

Perhaps my favorite thing about them is: Winter doesn't matter. Winter is a total non-issue. With so many of my plants, I go to great lengths, tucking them into sheltered nooks, building raised beds to give them perfect drainage, I cover them, fret if there isn't enough snow. With Dahlias, I wait until frost, then grab a garden fork, pop them out of the ground, let them dry a day or two, wrap them in dry newspaper, shove them in a bag, and dump them in the basement. It is practically effortless, and no matter what Old Man Winter throws as me, I know they're fine. And even if that tiny bit of work seems like too much, they're cheap enough you can just let them freeze and treat them like annuals.

See other posts on great old-fashioned plants:
From the fabulous Frances
the excellent Ryan Miller (whose idea this was!)
And the remarkable Matt Mattus

Sciency answes: Really big dahlias

David and Connie sent this question:

I have a question about Dahlias. I love the dinnerplate dahlias, but have not been able to find varieties that get 14 inches in diameter or larger. Do you know of any varieties that get that large?

Sadly, I am going to have to say no, I do not know of any dahlias that
get larger than 14 inches.The largest official dahlia size
classification is "AA" which covers anything over 10 inches. I think
about 14 may be about the upper limit when it comes to flower size. But I admit I'm not a dinnerplate dahlia grower, I like them smaller (as you can see in the picture above) if any readers are dahlia nuts who know better, please chime in!
But, if you are interested in giant dahlias of a different sort, you
should check out this post from the amazing Annie on tree dahlias!
These things don't just have big flowers, they are insanely huge plants! My growing season is WAY too short for them, but if I live somewhere warmer I would TOTALLY be growing them.