Going, going, gone

Consider this a requiem to my dahlia season.  Although I plopped my tubers into temporary pots in mid-April to give them a head start in sprouting before transplanting them into the raised planters of my cutting garden, flowering was delayed until early August, probably due to relatively cool spring temperatures.  In addition to getting a slow start, they faced an earlier than usual exit due to a combination of severe mildew and the appearance of the dahlia mosaic virus.  (You can find the American Dahlia Society's pictorial guide to recognizing the virus here.)  The mildew was promoted by the heightened humidity delivered by a persistent morning marine layer followed by warm afternoon temperatures but I contributed to the problem by using small sprinkler heads attached to a hose to supplement my drip system.  Overcrowding my plants didn't help.  Next year, I'll water more carefully, promote better air circulation, and try a natural fungicide.  As to the mosaic virus, there's no cure for that so I'll be discarding all my afflicted tubers and buying new ones.*

But on to the requiem!  I planted twenty dahlia tubers this year, the majority of which I'd saved from prior seasons.  There were seventeen dahlia varieties in the mix, with three duplicates.  For ease of presentation, I'll show them alphabetically by name:

Dahlia 'Blue Bell' was new to me this year.  The flowers were pretty but the plant was stingy in producing them and not overly impressive.  I've already pulled it out.

Dahlia 'Brown Sugar' has ball-shaped flowers.  It makes a nice accent to the larger flowers of other dahlias.  It wasn't affected by the virus but it was a mildew magnet.  I've already pulled it.

This collarette dahlia was sold to me as 'Kelsey Ann Joy' this year, which it isn't.  A commentator identified it as 'Bumble Rumble', which it more closely resembles.  It wasn't a prolific bloomer but it's still flowering and has buds.

This one was sold to me as 'Cafe au Lait' but I think it's one of that plant's cousins, either 'Royal' or 'Rose'.  It's been blooming continuously and still has flowers, although I've already removed a large number of its major branches and leaves due to the disfiguration caused by the mosaic virus.

This is the first and only bud produced by Dahlia 'Caproz Pizzazz'.  I bought a bag containing 2 clumps of the tubers on a last-minute whim from my local garden center.  I gave one clump to a neighbor and planted the other in a barrel.  My neighbor's tuber sprouted but didn't bud at all.  My plant appears healthy - it's virus-free and has been only minimally affected by mildew but one bud from an entire clump of tubers doesn't make it a keeper.

I'm fairly certain this is Dahlia 'Catching Fire', although it was sold to me 3 years ago under another name.  I've divided it a few times and given plants and tubers away.  It's a reliable bloomer.

Dahlia 'Creme de Cognac' is another reliable bloomer.  It was one of the first to bloom in my garden this year and also the first of the dahlias I gave to a neighbor to bloom.  However, it was badly affected by the virus and I've already pulled up both my plants. 

This flower is just the second bloom produced by Dahlia 'Excentric' this season.  It has a few more buds but it's not a keeper despite it's virus-free status.

Dahlia 'Fairway Spur' is another late bloomer but it's been picking up speed as other dahlias began to lag.  As in prior years, the form of the flowers vary.  The flower on the right is a current bloom and there are a few others still developing on that plant, which will probably be one of the last I remove. 

Dahlia 'Labyrinth'  is a holdover from prior years.  It was the first plant to display signs of the mosaic virus and the first one I removed.

Dahlia 'La Belle Epoque' was new to me this year.  It still had lots of buds and blooms in place this week.  It'll be among the last plants I remove.

Dahlia 'Lady Darlene' is perhaps the most dramatic of my dahlias.  It opens with vibrant red petals marked by yellow streaks, then fades to softer colors as the petals extend and lean backward.  It still has buds but nothing nearing bloom stage.

Last year, Dahlia 'La Luna' produced some flowers with clear yellow streaks against its otherwise ivory petals.  This year, there were no such yellow streaks, just ivory petals with a pale yellow glow.  This one was also badly afflicted with the virus.  I removed it earlier this week.

Dahlia 'Mikayla Miranda' was one of my favorites last year and was as prolific with its lavender-tinged flowers this year as it was then.  It still has a couple of blooms and buds.

Dahlia 'Miss Brandy' was another newbie.  I love it but it was light on flowers and, as it was affected by the virus, I'm not able to give it another year to bulk up.

Dahlia 'Molly Raven' is the only dahlia I had with dark foliage this year.  It was among the last to bloom and the plant itself is spindly.  I don't see any obvious signs of the virus in its foliage but I'm wary about hanging on to it in the hope it'd provide a better crop of its dramatic flowers next year.

Last, but not least, is Dahlia 'Summer's End'.  It's a waterlily-type I've grown - and divided - in prior years.  I have 2 plants in my cutting garden this year but both seem to have been affected by the virus.  I hope to buy another tuber to plant out next year.

With the exception of 'Caproz Pizzazz' and 'Excentric', all the remaining dahlia tubers should be out by the first of next week, if not earlier.  I may wait to see if the bud on 'Caproz' actually reaches bloom status.  As both it and 'Excentric' are in barrels separated from the tubers in the raised beds and neither shows signs of the mosaic virus, they're welcome to a little extra time in place, although I've no intention of saving the tubers of either one due to their poor performance.

Because I hope that dumping all my existing tubers and refreshing the soil in my raised planters will put an end to the mosaic virus, I've already pre-ordered eleven dahlias for delivery next spring.  Three ('Creme de Cognac', 'Labyrinth', and 'Mikayla Miranda') are replacements for this year's losses.  Two others ('Belle of Barmera' and 'Enchantress') are tubers I grew in prior years and loved.  The others are new to me.  Will I add more?  That's entirely possible but maybe I'll spread them more broadly, dropping some in barrels and containers elsewhere in my garden to give them more breathing room.  What can I say?  Dahlias are an addiction and they brighten the summer months here when the overall dryness of my garden delivers fewer flowers.

Best wishes for a pleasant weekend.

*Note: While most of the discussions of dahlia mosaic virus are focused on removing affected plants and their tubers from your garden, I found one post that included actions you might take to prevent exposure at the start of the season, namely by spraying for aphids and other sap sucking insects.  I didn't witness an aphid problem in my cutting garden so I'm wondering if the influx of grasshoppers was responsible - they don't suck sap but they do chomp leaves and stems so I speculate that they might also spread the virus.  You can find a link to the article here.

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