Dahlia seedlings – what are they exactly? They are magical. They are exciting. They have both the capacity to surprise and disappoint. They are fun. They are so much more than just a plant started from a tiny seed!
What are they NOT? Dahlia seedlings will not grow true to their parents! They may have similar traits, but rarely look the same as the seed or pollen parent. Seedlings can vary from the seed and pollen parents in colour, form, height, tuber production, seed production, pollen production, foliage colour…
The 2022 growing season saw us grow approximately 500 dahlia plants from seed. Of those 500, we kept less than 80 to overwinter in storage and possibly grow out again in 2023. I spent a ton of my summer time in the seedling patch admiring, observing, recording and documenting the new blooms. And all the while I enjoyed the sweetly intoxicating scent of sweet peas wafting across from their trellis (planting sweet peas next to the dahlia seedling patch was an excellent idea!).
Skeena Darling was the first dahlia seedling that we kept back in 2020 (from 2019 seed)! Her own seeds have produced some stunners including the 2022-065 dahlia pictured above.