rosa, did you but the potted dahlias? Could they have been grown/forced in a greenhouse and therefore be ahead of schedule?

I hear you on the in-ground battle with critters. I have yet to plant my dahlias which I started from tubers. They are potted up and some look like they have already been visited by slugs.

:)

Dee

rosaprimula, don't you have those post-nuclear-disaster slugs that have grown to about five feet tall? OK, maybe not that tall, but aren't they much bigger than ours, which get two inches at the most? I couldn't imagine dealing with those. I killed several in hiding today, and put out more beer traps because I saw five marching in the same direction towards my Monarda bradburianas, which have been able to sprout but a few leaves during the onslaught. Hopefully they'll recover now.

Slugs very bad here too--using lots of Sluggo.

Our slugs - over 40 species of them here...most of them are good for the gardens (so I don't use pellets or nematodes). These are the ones we are less keen on, which will eat live plant material and/or earthworms.

https://www.jic.ac.uk/research-impact/technology-research-platforms/entomology-and-insectary/slugwatch/slug-identification-guide/

I mostly do nightime hunt and kill patrols but the allotment, a bike ride away, has to be managed by encouraging birds, frogs etc....so I have a LOT of cover and provide drinking water and a pond,

A couple of allotment users are not thrilled by the large trees, shrubs and compost mountains - I do get that there has been in increase in pigeons and starlings,,,as well as various rodents (but I prefer to blame the hotel kitchens just across the road for rats)...and everything has to be securely netted at all times. I cba - I consider the blossom is my reward while the fruit feeds everything else...plus, I did get truly fed up with the whole harvesting and storage thing.

The flower seedlings tend to get less savaged than the vegetables at the allotment though (and as I am far less fussed about veggies, I am not totally beside myself (yet).

The enormous popularity of hostas (in the US) does make me think that slugs and snails are not terribly happy with the extreme climate differences in many parts of the US...whereas they love the UK - damp, mild, consistent.

Well the slugs will be loving my garden this spring - and any other in the area. I'm considering building an ark, we've had so much rain.

On one hand things look great overall because everything is so lush and green, but on the other hand some things are waterlogged (peonies I'm looking at you) and the garden in general is a mess because I haven't been able to get out and work there. And other parts of the garden are just bare because I haven't been able to get out and plant yet. The few vegetable plants I have may get in by September at this rate, and my annuals are starting to bloom in their winter-sowing containers, which are making lovely hiding spots for more slugs!

And oh yeah, forgot to mention - Mother Nature seems to have a cruel rule this year that it is only nice out while I am in work or busy with other commitments. It rains on my days off and when I have free time.

Rosa are your potted dahlias in more sun? The pots may heat up and stay warmer more quickly than the ground?? And are they the shorter varieties - what do they call them? Border dahlias? Maybe because they are smaller plants they bloom more quickly? LOL can you tell I'm just grasping at straws here?

:)

Dee

O, you wouldn't believe the amount of straw-grasping I do on a daily basis, Dee. Anyway, the dahlias are pretty standard 'Bishop's Children', dark-leaved types. My understanding was that light, or more specifically, lack of, was the main trigger for blooming. While I can sort of see that blooming now could be a result of making enough growth while while being in the early spring day/night cycle (we are currently on about 9 hours of darkness), I am surprised that the plant hasn't responded to the ever lengthening daylight hours and remained in vegetative growth.

Who bloody knows what the new 'normal' is anymore?

rosaprimula, those slugs are not huge, so I was wrong. Out of curiosity, after your link I looked up my native slugs and found out there is a loepard slug that gets up to 8" in lenght. Just ewww. Haen't seen one of those. If I wake up one morning and all m plants are chewed to the ground, I'll probably find some.

You are so dedicted. Maybe you're used to it, but I think struggle to imagine having a major garden off-property. Your efforts are quite inspiring.

There are surprising benefits, Deanna. While I have to be quite firm with myself, putting coats and boots on and jumping on the bike, once there, it is something of a sanctuary. I tend to pack milk and teabags because there is a little stove in the shed, so I can easily spend an entire afternoon, pottering around...out of reach of phones, offspring, spouse, pets, screens. My shed has a comfy chair and provides a perfect space for sulking, de-stressing, reading, napping...and when I am not there, I am not tormented by fails and doubts (unlike the garden at home, where it is far less easy to put aside tasks such as watering, pricking out, pruning and so on).

The huge slugs tend to be the sort which eat other slugs or feed off decomposing matter. The little brown keeled slugs, otoh, are far more destructive.

Someone was attempting to convince me of the skin benefits of slug mucus...Sincerely doubt I will be treating my wrinkly face by placing a coupla slugs on my cheeks.

deanna, kudos to you for following the link lol. No way would I click on a link that leads to photos of slugs! Although I *would* do that before putting a slug on my face haha! Or any other part of my body for that matter.

My son learned his left foot from his right because one of his little shoes had "slug juice" as he called it, splashed across it, staining it. He wasn't a huge insect geek, but he did love animals and for some reason was fascinated by slugs. Ugh, he didn't get that from me!

rosa have you changed your username? LOL I'm wondering if it has something to do with your granddaughter and her use of your phone that you mentioned in another thread! Did you just start over with a new account?

:)

Dee

I have a dahlia that blooms now, this time of year ('Crazy Love'), and struggles once we hit the hottest part of summer. And I had one ('Blue Bird') that struggled with spring rains (maybe that's what killed it?) and hottest part of summer, hitting its stride in late summer. Could it be Bishop's is an early blooming type?

IME there are mainly genetic differences how early Dahlias start to sprout, grow and flower.

My latest/ laziest was an amazing decorativ, which in selected by an amazing breeder, it is called Hollyhill Funhouse, at the end of the season at leat 6f tall, raised in Oregon

We often have cooler springs (mid Europe) and it was my impression that it needs quite a long spell of warmer temperatures to get into gear.

its total opposite is "Martin KRal", an infomal semi-cactus by an Austrian breeder, whose plants do stand genetically on many american shoulders but who selects with a deft hand.

It grows at least 5-6 f, starts flowering earlier than most and much longer, so, like in an average early summer it starts mid July and keeps going with some breaks till October

Sooo, I checked and did a brief internet search,

an very solid German breeder points out that his "tree Dahlias" are "short day" plants, and it seems that the cultivated garden hybrid Dahlias mostly do not have this trait any longer due to simple selection and breeding

(apart from that it is amaizing how many scientific papers are floating in the www regarding "floral induction", but most not specifically regarding Dahlias)