A composite article where a number of dahlia growers air their views about some recent introductions to the dahlia scene. This may or may not be of value to other growers.
Dave Sutherland, Guildtown:
TOMMY DOC: S.S.C. Dahlia: wrongly classified in my opinion. Too
beefy as a small. Would make a good medium. Stems and form are
excellent.
KIWI GLORIA: S.C. Dahlia: short footstalk with some flowers hidden
in the foliage. Great form. With better stems would be the dahlia
of the decade.
HAMILTON LILLIAN: S. Dec. Dahlia: back petals a bit big, and occasionally
clock-faced, but most flowers showable - a must for next season.
GOLDEN IMPACT: M.S.C. Dahlia: brilliant. Colour and form perfect.
Great stems.
YORKIE: M.S.C. Dahlia: late flowering. Good form and stems. A
bit small but will be given another chance, grown at six up.
TRENGROVE SUMMER: M.D. Dahlia: one plant gifted from a friend.
Hard to judge, but
looks quite good. Will risk half a dozen plants next season.
Rab. Ritchie, Kettlebridge:
HILLCREST ALBINO: White M.S.C. or L.S.C. Dahlia: all reports said
that this one was a must, It was a disaster!! It had a lot of
decorative petals and it damped off something terrible. I had
some good blooms on second flush and will give it another chance.
HILLCREST DESIRE: S.C. Dahlia: red with yellow. This was the best
small that I grew this year. I had only six plants yet I showed
a vase every week. Good stems and flowers up to size. Blooms are
easy to match.
PERITON: Mm. Ball. Dahlia: red. A nice miniature that did not
fade. Grew to about 4 feet.
TRENGROVE SUMMER: Med. Dec. Dahlia: yellow. I received the plants
from Halls of
Heddon in late June. Too late to show. It flowered in October
- blooms were up to size and it had good stems. It grew to about
5 feet. I will grow again next year.
PHOENIX: Med. Dec. Dahlia: dark Pink. Received six plants to try
it. It grew to six feet I had to cane the blooms on the plant.
The stems were good and the blooms were up to size. The petal
formation was like that of Edna ‘C’.
Doug. Semple, Glasgow:
SWANVALE: S. Dec. Dahlia: yellow. After having seen some excellent
vases of this one in 1990 1 decided to grow quite a few plants
of it. I received some of the plants rather late and they stayed
late. When it did flower it was well worth waiting for. I grew
some outside and some under cover. The ones outside had slightly
stronger colour but were also a bit coarse. I will grow under
cover in 1992 and leave a couple of breaks more on to get a bit
more refinement.
GATESHEAD FESTIVAL: S. Dec. Dahlia: orange with pink blends.
Also rather late with me
but again well worth waiting for. Very fine formation. Slight
colour variation which may cause you problems.
CLOVERDALE: S. Dec. Dahlia: yellow. Not particularly new but not
well established. David Boyd appears to be the only person that
can grow this one really well. I judged the small decs. at Harrogate
and he had some great vases of this one. I am still trying to
master it and am making steady progress. Look out Mr. Boyd 1992
might just be the year I get it right.
HILLCREST ALBINO: M.S.C. or L.S.C. Dahlia: white. After all the
rave notices everybody must have been growing this one and it
appears quite a few were not all that excited about Albino. Either
I am a better grower than most or else I am easier to please.
I LIKED IT. Can be grown as medium or a large which may prove
a bonus for another year. I will be growing some for each size.
It probably will not beat the Moonlights on a good day but it
will give you plenty to show.
HILLCREST SUFFUSION: Small Dec. Dahlia: yellow/Orange. Another
of Les Jackson’s
raisings and I’m not sure what to make of it. I saw a good
vase at London exhibited by David Boyd and a good vase at Dundee
exhibited by John Buchanan. Unfortunately both of these gentlemen
are better dahlia growers than I am. I felt that the petals were
too broad for a quality small decorative and it tended to drop
petals at the back before ‘finishing’ at the front.
I am growing too many good small decoratives to have room for
this one in 1992.
SCOTTISH RElATION: S.S.C. Dahlia: purple. I was growing this one
on trial for my friend
Robert Fulton who raised it as he wanted to see how it performed
in the hands of a good grower. It is early and free flowering
and will be a useful addition to this section. Probably will not
beat Gloria too often but I do not know of many that will. Still
flowering well until struck by frost on 5th November.
David McMillan, Coatbridge:
HILLCREST ALBINO: M.S.C. or LS.C. Dahlia: 10 plants grown and
this variety did not let me down. Fine form and good centres on
every bloom. I think this variety may end up large as I grew it
12 up and it was too big for a medium.
HILLCREST DESIRE: S.C. Dahlia: won the seedling award at London
in 1990 and it was easy to see why. Beautiful form, terrific stems
and colours evenly matched. Plenty of depth in this flower. I
grew this one 14 up and quite a number of blooms came oversize
so I will push it to 16 up next year.
MARY PITT: Min. Dec. Dahlia: it was mid May before my tuber threw
any cuttings and the three plants I got were put out in late June.
Quite a sturdy grower but it was too late to catch any of the
shows. The blooms were very similar to Abridge Taffy with very
good form and stems so I will try this one again.
LE BATTS PREMIER: 5. Dec. Dahlia: not new, but grown by me
for the first time. Grown at 8 up it produced very coarse blooms
that almost touched the rings. I did see some nice vases on the
show benches so I will grow a few extra flowers on to get a bit
more refinement in the blooms.
SPENCER: S. Dec. Dahlia: another older variety grown by me for
the first time. Terrific plants and very good blooms nicely formed
although the centres inclined to be a little on the heavy side.
I will be growing this one again next year as contrary to some
reports I can show this one in mid September.
DIANE NELSON: S. Dec. Dahlia: although I have had stock of this
variety since 1987 this was the first time that I have actually
grown it but it certainly will not be the last. Four plants put
in to make up a bed produced beautiful flowers well up to size
and no weak stems about it. I could pick a nice vase every week
and in two solid weeks of gales and rain there was not a mark
on any of the flowers. Definitely one to grow if you do not cover.
NANCY MARGARET: M.S.C. Dahlia: only a few plants grown but well
worth another try. Grown at 10 up this variety had good form and
very good stems. A little soft in the petals so I would recommend
covering this variety.