No blooms yet, but LOTS of buds, and some are just about ready to pop.

I'm getting excited.

Some of my dahlias are already blooming. Cafe au lait, bloomed early, so did Eveline. Karma fuchiana did, too.
Mary Ann

I am West of Boston. Nowhere near blooms. Haven't even pinched yet! What is wrong. I am also zone 5. I plant in tilled raised beds. ? It has been cold and rainey though.

I have buds, like JRoot, but no blooms yet. Considering they didn't get started until March 15th, I'm pretty pleased with the progress.

Cheers,
Russ

Russ, since you are good at building things I wonder if I should rig up a tarp like structure to cover my raised beds for tomorrows wind and rain storm? We have had rain for about 10 days with 2 days of drying. Last night it poured again and it doesn't look god until next week. That is alot of water on the new leaves. Would you bother covering the dahlias at all? I have stakes up so can't cover with just throwing some cloth out there.

I guess it really depends on how strong a wind you're expecting and whether you have anything around that might be blown into them. I have a big maple tree in the middle of my roadside garden and it occasionally drops a branch in a storm.

I probably wouldn't bother with a structure if they're staked already. Mine have only had problems when they're fully grown. I'm hoping that my tomato cages are going to solve that problem this year.

Good luck!

Cheers,
Russ

It's keeping so much rain off of them. They aren't big enough to tie yet. I have stakes in the some have the tomato cages. Thanks

I've got flowers opening as of today. So we are "off to the races" as far as the garden shows are concerned. LOL

I don't have any blooms and only one with buds (out of 20) I usually plant in March and have lots of blooms by memorial day, this year is so depressing. Also my plants seem very small this year. We are suffering from major June Gloom with not very high temps (it is usually 90+ by May).
I was supposed to provide flowers for a wedding on July 3rd and I don't think its going to happen. :(

I have blooms on about half of my plants here in Massachusetts and despite the weather. There are buds everywhere. I started the plants indoors beginning in February, but also planted some tubers directly into the soil.

Blooming now are Firepot, Arabian Nights, Park Princess, Thomas Edison, Cloudburst, Show Off and one large one whose name I forgot.

Lots of blooms now. They are really starting to take off.

I started a plethora of dahlias from seed for the first time this year and was so worried they wouldn't bloom that I bought 24-pack from a garden center too. The dahlias from the store are taller and blooming, but the dahlias I started from seed have large, healthy leaves and are so bushy and beautiful...and now they are starting to bud! I'm so excited to see what colors they are. The hotter and drier it gets, the faster they grow. It supposed to be in the mid-90's all week, so I'm hoping to see blooms before I leave for vacation next Wednesday....if not, I should have some nice color to enjoy on my return.

It is time to pinch. I have a question to the forun above but forgot one thing. In the place where I am supposed to pinch I am sometimes finding a bud? There are supposed to be 5 footers. I took the bud off but was surprised to see it there.

pdshop- there would be a bloom at the top of all of your dahlias if you didn't stop them. Just pinch it off.

I just posted a photo of the first three blossoms of my dahlia 'Princess Paige' in the 'Summer Beauty' section of the photo galleries. Just a lovely shorter dahlia.

That's a beauty bklynxmas. I like the variegated ones, especially in those colors. Why not put your photo right here in the dahlia gallery too. Far easier to find for all dahlia fans. The link is right on top of the forum, below "Messages:" and next to "On Topic Discussions" in bold.

Bklynxmas -- I've been searching for pics of Princess Paige, so thank you so much for sharing! They are real beauties! I've had a hard time telling with pics though -- would you say they are more red/white or purple/white? Also, did you start Princess Paige indoors earlier or just outside after frost? I'm curious to know if she naturally would bloom this early or if she was given a head start. I'm really trying to decide on if I should get this one next year, so any info you can provide would be great seeing as how it's so hard to find any info. THANKS!

Still cool and dark here. Only 3 days of sun this month. My dahlias are just ankle high and they should be knee high. Very discouraging. I just try and keep the slugs off them.

Oh pdshop the slugs kill me every year. I have a spray bottle of water and salt that goes with me into the garden every day.

Hi Poochella,
Thanks, I tried to post the image in the dahlia gallery, but I encountered the dreaded 'image exceeds 61K' problem. When I reduce my images to 61K, the result is smaller than a postage stamp! However, I have no problem posting my photo in the Photo Galleries. So, go figure!
tmac, I would describe the color combination as purple-red and white. The color is red, but definitely is more purply than a warm red. Also, I confess, my head start in getting these blooms this early is because I ordered them as rooted cuttings from Corralitos dahlias. This is the first time trying out their rooted cuttings, and I must say that I am beyond impressed - they were planted early May and they all look vigorous and most are with buds or are already blooming. Granted, most of the dahlias that I ordered from Corralitos were the shorter variety. In contrast, about 7 of my 33 tubers that I planted directly have rotted. Thanks to an incredibly wet and cold May and June.

Here are some shots that I took today, battling the mosquitoes after the rain.

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Jroot, every year you astound me with your early flowers from way up there in Canada. Kudos to you and your paper pot technology :) I have buds on quite a few but am still a way from blooms. A warm sunny week underway now will go far and I hope I have a couple as pretty as yours. What is that last peach colored one?

bklyn, I forgot about the dreaded kb limit in the gallery. Didn't used to have that restriction. You can always post them right here in a thread too.

Pd, ankle high would be very discouraging. We've had our share of years like your 2009 so far, but it should change for you as summer gets into swing.