A composite article by several dahlia growers whose opinions may or may not be of value to other growers.
Andrew Allan Jnr. Chryston.
Superfine: I was expecting great things from this variety after
the write-up it received in last years Impact. I bought twenty
plants, very few survived the first few days, they had been propagated
under extremely high temperature and were lanky and soft. More
experienced growers would have sent them back to the supplier.
I managed to take some leaf cuttings, all to no avail. The flowers
had green centres all season. They only closed up when the back
petals were about to drop. However I did win the basket class
at the Monklands late show with this variety.
Cream Delight: I don’t know what I did wrong with this variety. It ran to bud when in three inch pots. I was told it was an “early flowerer” Very straggly type of plant habit. blooms came with petals swirling in every direction, never exhibited a single bloom.
Virginia: This one needs to be double stopped and even then it is hard to keep it down to size. Very rampant grower. I didn’t like the colour, it seemed rather sickly to me. Apart from that it also suffered from swirling petals, never exhibited a single bloom of this one either.
Tommy Doc: This one needs to be double stopped and everything left to come on the plant. Very rampant grower, mine grew to six feet under the covers. Not recommended for three foot dwarfs. Nice colour and good depth to the blooms. I will grow’ this one again next year.
Monkstown Diane: This was the best of the four new small cactus that I tried this year. It has tubular petals and grows like the Chester family only a bit taller, no problems with size on this variety. Good strong stems, nice colour and good depth to the blooms, such a pity I only had three plants. I will definitely grow this one next year.
Dave Sutherland, Guildtown.
Hillcrest Hilton (LSC) Will hold its own in a very strong
section. Four plants produced blooms of excellent form and colour
with good stems. Definitely one to try again.
Hillcrest Ultra (SD) Nice colour change and form. \Veak stems to start with but they hardened up later in the season. Large petals tended to leave gaps when removed, I will give this one another chance.
Charlie Two (MD) Quite good in a weak section. Tended to mark before fully mattire. May grow again throtigh lack of choice.
Irene’s Pride (GSC) Strong plants, large flowers of nice gold colour which finished like mops. No one else seems to grow’ it which says it all!
Doug. Semple, Glasgow.
I used to have a mate who visited me regularly and was in the
habit of criticising my choice of new varieties which I was trying
out. I am glad he did not come about during 1994 or he would really
have given me pelters for my latest choice.
Hillcrest Trueform (MD Bronze). The medium decorative section is one of the poorest in the Classified Directory but I am not convinced that this one will make much of an impact It is not a typical “Hillcrest” variety as it is reluctant to get off the ground It is similar to the old Sherwood Standard. I did have one or two good blooms but not enough to endear it to me.
Hamari Rose (Min. Ball Pink). You have to work hard on this one to keep it down to size. It also retains a green centre for a long time. From the front it looks a real winner but I did not like the discolouration on the reverse of the blooms. It may do better under cover but miniatures under covers is a luxury that I cannot afford.
Those of you who know me will know that small cactus is not
my forte so I tried three new ones this year.
Cream Delight (Cream). Difficult to keep down to size,
rather straggly and loose. In my opinion not an exhibition variety.
Superfine (Yellow). Gold Certificate winner at Bradford and released to rave reviews. It did not perform well with me. It retains a green hard centre until mature when the blooms drop right back to the stem, there are huge gaps which detract greatly from the overall effect. Some people may decide to give it another try. Not for me thank-you.
Virginia (Orange/Yellow blends). A chunky heavy type of bloom which reminded me of the old variety Autumn Fire. Difficult again to keep under the small ring. I do not feel this one will threaten the section leaders but could be a favourite garden variety.
So you can see that my prayers for a good small cactus have
not been answered. What of 1995? If I tell you what I intend to
buy in 1995 it may well save you some money if my previous track
record continues. I intend to try Andrew Magson - although I feel
that I may not be able to keep it down to size. My old friend
Dave Spencer strongly recommends Hamilton Amanda. His comments
at Harrogate were... “Look at THAT Doug. grown ten up, outside
and not a mark on it”. To which I replied "You live
in Essex I live in Glasgow".
By this time next year I hope to have joined the ranks of pensioners
so I will not have as much money to waste as in the past!!!
Rab Ritchie, Kettlebridge.
Superfine (S.S.C. Yellow). I grew ten plants and never exhibited
a bloom all season. It had green centres which take a long time
to come out. By October I had lots of perfect blooms. I feel that
this one will do well in a cooler season.
Amber Glow (Min. Ball Bronze). This one grows on good strong stems and some folks said it would be a small but I never had any blooms bigger than a miniature.
Andrew Magson (Unclassified, Red). When I saw this one I thought it had too much petal for a small so I grew it as a medium and it came to size - never oversize. David Spencer grew it sixteen up and it was still oversize for a small, so surely this is a medium.
Golden Symbol (M.S.C ). A typical Symbol, good plants and blooms to match. If you grow’ the “Symbol Family” well, this one is for you. There is not much difference in colour between Golden and Majaas Symbol.
Cream Delight (S.S.C. Cream). This one has good blooms on plants which grow to four feet. However the stems are very thin. I aim to give this one another go.
Hillcrest Trueform (MD Bronze). I planted six plants of this variety but three never really came to anything. The remaining three grew to about eighteen inches and gave some good blooms. I feel this one will struggle in this section.
Formby Supreme (MD Yellow’). This one has the same petal formation as Edna C but is more refined. It grew to four feet with good stems. I only grew two plants but intend growing Inore of this variety next year