A composite article by several growers whose opinions may or may
not be of value to other growers.
Doug Semple, Glasgow.
At the outset I must say that 1995 was not a vintage year for
dahlias and any comments will have to be tempered with a little
mercy. The varieties that did well this year may not do so well
next year and vice-versa.
Baret Joy [L.S.C. white]: A very tall grower and was early to flower with me. It had a lot of dodgy centres and was lacking in depth. Does not appear to be a serious challenger to Challenger.
Keith’s Choice [Med. Dec. dark red]: Low grower and early to flower. Initially blooms showed promise but they tended to mark easily. None exhibited.
Barbarry Token [Small Dec. lavender]: Made good healthy plants but blooms retained a green centre. Good colour break but I do not think it will pose a serious threat to section leaders.
Barbarry Cosmos [Small Dec. dark red]: Promising blooms but they tended to mark easily. Large petalled variety. Will do well as a garden variety but will struggle on the show bench.
David Digweed [Small Dec./small ball orange blends]: Not really new but I grew a few to try and exhibited a few vases. Some judges seem to like it while others do not. This seemed to confirm my first impression that this is a hail and hail variety. Half decorative and half ball. I will have to rate it as a near miss in both classifications.
Barbarry Snowball [Miniature Dec. creamy white]: Early on it looked a winner but it had a tendency to drop petals at the back before its centre was complete. This may have been because of lack of water as it was farthest away from my water source. Could be worth another chance.
Barbarry Ideal [Miniature Dec. bronze]: Carried a profusion of high quality blooms. There were some mis-shaped centres but I put this down to the excessive heat. I will grow it again.
Fermain [Miniature Dec. white with lavender flush]: It flowered a bit late with me but it was well worth waiting for. There is a variation in colour which makes it difficult to match five in a vase. Definitely worth growing.
Andrew Magson [S.S.C. red]: After having read all about this one being on the BIG side for a small I spent a lot of time growing it down to size. It proved to be well worth the effort and carried a phenomenal amount of blooms from early to late. Not all blooms are showable but you get a good percentage. I showed vases of this one every week from mid August until October and it earned me a number of red can:Is. I will be growing plenty of Andrew Magson in 1996.
Amaran Pentire [S.S.C. orange/yellow blends]: I will have to confess that I was never fully in control of this variety. I tried to grow too many blooms per plant early on and it took me a while to try to get it sorted out as it put on tremendous growth. I will try to get it right next year.
Hamilton Amanda [Small Dec. yellow]: I believe my old friend Dave Spencer made his holiday money out of this one but it did nothing for me. Very tall grower, I threw out a couple of virused plants early on. It will not find a space in the Semple plot next year.
Andrew Allan Jnr. Chryston.
Superfine [S.C yellow]: Everyone I know composted this variety
last year but I decided to grow a few this year to see if perhaps
the Scottish climate was the cause of the green centres. Alas
no! After an exceptionally long hot summer this variety still
produced green centres. I tried a few in five inch pots and grew
it as a miniature, it produced superb blooms without the green
centres.
Cream Delight [S.C cream]: Same format as Superfine, everyone tossed it out last year, I tried a few and it had the same problem with swirling petals. I saw a few vases on the show bench, I will stick to Paul Chester.
Virginia: This looked dreadful last year in a typical Scottish summer, this year it looked a lot better, the problem of swirling petals still remained. Out it goes.
Monkstown Diane [S.C pale pink]: This variety just does not like hot weather. The best flowers appeared once the temperatures had dropped to a more normal level. I will give it another chance next year.
Yellow Linda’s Chester [S.C vivid yellow]: Plants arrived dehydrated and took a while to recover, frost set them back even further. Same habit and form as parent, slightly smaller, seven up would be about right.
Andrew Magson [S.S.C red]: Everyone said this would be a BIG small. I started off at 25 up, the first flowers were no bigger than a miniature. I ended up growing it at about 15 up. David McMillan grew this as a medium and it looks much better than trying to grow it as a small. However this was an unusual year and who knows what it will be like next year. Watch this space.
White Keene [L.S.C white]: I was told this would be small for a Keene and to grow it three up. Not small, five up is about right. Well worth a try next year.
Baret Joy [LS.C white]: Tall grower, over six feet in height. Oval centres and as flat as a pancake. Never exhibited a bloom of this one all season. Will try a few next year in case it doesn’t like hot weather.
Amaran Pentire [S.S.C yellow/orange blends]: Not too sure about this one, looks similar to Virginia without the swirling petals. I have great difficulty in matching these bicoloured dahlias and so for that reason I probably wont grow many next year.
Robert Ritchie, Kettlebridge.
Amaran Pentire [S.S.C. Bronze]: This flowered very early with
me, the first flush was good however after the first flush flowers
were small and stems were thin. I will give it another try next
season as this was not a good year to evaluate new varieties.
Country Boy [M.S.C. Red]: I believe this was the best medium in my garden this year. I intend to grow more next year. It was good from the start making excellent plants with good stems and flowers.
Dave Sutherland, Guildtown.
Kenora Wildfire: Six plants were a disaster. I should have grown
Valentine which looked quite good in Rab Ritchie’s garden.
L’Ancresse: Only two plants but it looks like a winner. I will definitely grow more next year.
Tul Orange: Three plants were useful and would be an asset in multi vase exhibits.
David McMiIlan, Coatbridge.
Hamilton Amanda [S.Dec.]: Grown at 12 up flowers were pushing
the rings and still had a large centre. Will grow a few more up
on this variety as form is good and as Dave Spencer says It does
not mark in the rain. I had to pull out one plant I did not like
the look of but the other 11 were excellent plants growing 4 to
5 feet.
Marion Smith [5. Dec.]: This is one variety that did not like the hot summer, blooms were terrific size grown at 10 up but backs were away before flower developed. I was determined to dump this but by end of September in cooler conditions I got some very good blooms so I will give it another try but I think I will cover this variety The plants grew to four feet tall.
David Digweed [S. Dec.]: Excellent healthy plants produced very good blooms grown at 8 up and not a ball petal in sight. This is another one that does not mark and as a rare bonus it has excellent stems.
Andrew Magson [S.S.C. Red]: Grown at 10 up this made a very good flower with good form and depth and in my opinion this should be a medium also does not fade in hot weather. I seen this variety grown as a small but I don’t have the time to put in the work required to do this.