A composite article by several dahlia growers whose opinions may or may not be of value to other growers.
DOUG SEMPLE, GLASGOW.
1993 will not be remembered as a vintage year for growing dahlias and it is only fair when assessing new varieties to take into account the poor summer that we had. Similarly when we try newish plants they are usually grown from bought in plants and without wishing to appear big headed bought in plants are rarely as good as those we propagate ourselves. So making instant decisions is not always wise and perhaps we should assess varieties over two years.
KENORA MOONBEAM Med. dec. yellow. This variety had received quite a bit of publicity and I decided to try a few plants mainly because of the dearth of good varieties in this classification. It made good healthy plants and I grew it eight up. Some of the blooms were really deep but petal formation always seemed rather loose. Not the answer to my prayers for a really good medium decorative.
HILLCREST MAJESTIC Probably L.S.C. yellow. I received three plants from Les Jackson to try as a medium semi-cactus. It was early to flower but always looked to be on the big side for a medium. Has plenty of petal, is a good strong colour, but I feel it will struggle in the large semi-cactus section as there are now so many good ones.
ELMA ‘E’: Large dec. Very, very late flowerer. It looked to be on schedule to provide me with a nice vase for my Christmas table when it was suddenly struck down by frost early in October. I have been advised by very knowledgeable dahlia people that it is well worth the effort in getting it to flower earlier. What does annoy me is that suppliers of plants send out varieties that they are bound to know are very late to flower, too late to give the growers any chance of exhibiting them. This does no good to them or the hobby in general.
MAXINE BAILEY Small dec. yellow. Received this one from Neville Weekes to try. Early to flower, formation almost perfect. Just a bit on the small side. Possibly when pushed for size will lose some quality. I showed a few good vases of it this year. I recall Neville Weekes being asked his opinion about this variety at a Northern Conference a few years ago and he said -“It’s as good as any of the other yellows”. I agree.
NANCY MARGARET M.S.C. white. Another of Mr Weekes’ raisings. The plants I received were very spindly and took a while to recover. I also grew too many breaks on them, possibly about seven up would be sufficient as the blooms on mine were rather small. I saw one or two good vases of this one around and I will give it another try.
BARBARRY ORACLE Small dec. red. David Boyd exhibited this one to good effect in 1992. I grew ten plants and was not impressed. Rather low grower and did not produce many quality blooms. Little to commend it other than the colour.
BARBARRY GAIETY Mm. dec. pink\yellow blends. After having seen a super vase of this one exhibited at Harrogate by that expert exhibitor Frank Newbery I decided to try it. Not an easy variety to grow. Too big to be a true miniature and will require double stopping. It also tends to be a bit on the late side for Scottish growers.
DAVID McMILLAN, COATBRIDGE.
MAXINE BAILEY I grew this at ten up but found it to be a bit on the small side. Excellent form, blooms dress right back onto good stems and this variety can also stand the weather. I will grow this one seven up next year. This variety also won a few Best Vase of Dahlias in Show.
POLVENTON SUPREME Small Ball Dahlia. Despite all the arguments I heard about this variety it is definitely a small ball. Excellent form and good stems held the flowers well above the foliage. We had three mornings frost and one day of torrential rain before our own show and the flowers outside were unmarked.
HILLCREST ULTRA Small dec. I knew this variety produced topsize blooms so I grew it twelve up to make sure it did not go oversize. Blooms almost touched the rings and this was one of my best varieties. Good form and the pink and yellow flowers are easily matched up. The stems were a little weak in heavy rain so I will cover some of this variety next year.
ANGLIAN WATER Min. dec. Looked to be a super variety but the centres seem to go quickly when they are vased up in water. Well formed blooms made the top size with no problem. I will give this one another try.
HILLCREST TRUEFORM Med. dec. I was given three plants to try. They produced excellent flowers with good size and depth. A nice orange colour, held on good stems. This variety grows to about 3.5 feet and will definitely do well in the medium decorative section.
RAB RITCHIE, KETTLEBRIDGE.
WHITE MARGARET ANN Min. dec. Good strong plants with blooms to match. Some were oversize. As good as Margaret Ann.
HILLCREST ULTRA Small decorative dahlia pink on yellow base. I was given three plants from Les Jackson to try and would say that this is one of the best small decs that I have grown. It goes well up to size, strong grown plants. perfect blooms. This one is a must for small dec growers.
TUI ORANGE Small semi-cactus dahlia. This one has good strong stems but the flowers came oversize (my fault). I have seen some good vases and will try this one again next year.
PRIMROSE DIANE Small decorative dahlia. If you grow Ruskin Diane well then this one is every bit as good.
AUDACITY Med. decorative dahlia. This one flowered late with me but had flowers up to size from good strong plants. Looks good for multi-vase classes.
YELLOW SUNRAY GLINTS M.S.C. yellow. This one will be in demand when it is released. The flowers have good depth and form and it is not as tall a grower as Sunray Glints.
YELLOW SHERWOOD SUNRISE Small decorative dahlia. This is John Todhunters sport and I was given it by mistake but I was well pleased when it flowered. Perfect blooms on good stems, a lot of people have admired it.
DAVE SUTHERLAND, GUILDTOWN
KENORA CHALLENGER Three plants flowered late and I only staged one bloom but it is a thoroughbred and is here to stay.
BARBARRY ORACLE Again three plants, thank goodness! Just what it says a b*!~# Oracle.
ELMA ‘E’ Very late to flower and grown at five up passed the medium ring, it will have to be three up. I think it will be a very good large dec.
SWANVALE Good flowers but stems more suited for giants. also damped off before the end of the season.
GATESHEAD FESTIVAL Excellent flowers, but terrible stems. It is worse than Senzoe Ursula and that is saying something.
HILLCREST AMOUR Good beefy flowers on good stems. Flush tended to appear anywhere on the face of the flowers which also tended to look in all directions. An early flower. For next season I think I will buy just one new dahlia Monkstown Diane.