We’ve been growing dahlias for 12 seasons here at the farm, and slowly, over the years, Steve and I have curated the 700-ish named varieties we’re growing in 2023 in our fields. This time of year, we’re reminded why do work with tubers and weed baby plants 9 months of the year…. it’s all worth it when the fields are in BLOOM! The beauty is breathtaking, but also it is so useful to have lots of varieties available to compare blooms side by side for height, and vigor, and to observe how they change throughout the season.
These two beautiful hybrids from Santa Cruz Dahlias are similar, but but they have some obvious differences.
KAās Keltie Cherry has very deep, moody raspberry blooms, with a higher petal count, and slightly more quilled, densely packed petals than its sister KAās Rosie Jo. KA’s Rosie Jo also has a deep, moody fuchsia blooms, but with graceful, narrow, pointing petals that are sliiightly picotee with a softer pink in the very late part of the season here at our farm. KAās Rosie Jo has a bit more vigorous branching habit than KAās Keltie Cherry here at the farm, producing a few more stems per season, usually hanging out a few inches shorter, but blooming first. Both dahlias are however quite productive, and keep giving nice, super strong stems when harvested regularly. (Remember with dahlias, the more you cut, the more they bloom!)
What other differences/similarities do you see in these two? ????
