Forum home› Plants

Happy flowering tree dahlias?

FireFire Posts: 17,116
edited March 2022 in Plants
I am interested in tree dahlias. I understand that some have a habit of flowering very late in the season or not at all. Are there any that you have found will happliy flower through the summer? Floriferous and well mannered? Is that a thing? Or are they generally a PITA?
«1

Posts

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 13,242
    edited March 2022
    As far as I am aware Dahlia imperialis is the only tree Dahlia. Very shy flowered, if at all and not until October at the earliest.
    Some people like the foliage, but personally, I think it is just a straggly mess.
    There are ashtrays of emulsion,
    for the fag ends of the aristocracy.

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • FireFire Posts: 17,116
    edited March 2022
    I heard about Dahlia campanulata; and Dahlia excelsa, said to flower in July and August, foliage like an ash tree. I wondered if there are other similar.



  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 13,242
    New one on me, might be worth a go for you in London.
    There are ashtrays of emulsion,
    for the fag ends of the aristocracy.

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • FireFire Posts: 17,116
    edited March 2022
    Yes, but hard to find in the UK  ... Apparently excelsa was featured on GW in 2010.
  • FireFire Posts: 17,116
    edited March 2022
    I found them at Crug Farm, after some digging. I ordered an excelsa and a campanulata, said to have two foot tubers on a good year. Fingers crossed that
    1) there wasn't a catalogue error and the tubers do actually show up
    2) that I can get them in the growing in the ground and they grow so fast that the slugs can't make a dent
    3) I can keep them in the ground and nothing eats them over the winter
    4) they are as magnificent as they seem. They might break my fence, but it's possibly worth the risk.

    I think that just made my week.
    💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽
  • FireFire Posts: 17,116
    Dahlia tamaulipana is another type of tree dahlia - reaching over three metres tall. And as hard to find in the UK; it might be easier to source in the winter.




  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 33,719
    I collected d.Imperialis seeds 2,500m up a mountain in India. 
    I grew them from seed to 2.5m in a single year
    Devon.
  • FireFire Posts: 17,116
    edited March 2022
    Yes, I saw that someone had grown Imperialis  (native to Mexico) outside a monastery in Nepal. There seem plant hunters still trawling Mexico and the world for new plants. It's not great to be bringing in plants from all over the world re biosecurity. I hope there are tight plant health protocols that hunters abide by. Listening to them relating their exploits, I somehow I doubt it. Christopher Lloyd brought back so much from Turkey in the back of his car. It's no wonder we have so many plant vectors that get out of hand.





  • FireFire Posts: 17,116
    edited September 2022
    Happily my four tree dahlias (about two metres tall) are doing ok in pots. I will plant them out next spring. The bottom leaves are going yellow (in the way of tomato plants). They get water daily and the soil is always damp; there is lots of new growth towards the top, so the plants do seem to be happy. They have regular feed. Does anyone find that tree dahlias have their lower leaves die off during the autumn? My other dahlias don't do this. Thanks
  • FireFire Posts: 17,116
    I see that some tree dahlias come online in the autumn to purchase (limited stock). What is the reason? Is there virtue in buying then?
Sign In or Register to comment.