FAQs on Breeding Dahlias
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I began breeding in the summer of 2019 by selecting the varieties I wanted to gather seed. It would be the season of 2020 (Covid), where I planted my first dahlia seedlings. From that first batch, I collected seed from the following established varieties:
Wynn’s Pinking of You
Hollyhill Black Beauty
Crichton Honey
and there was one or two more I don’t remember at present
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Well, it’s super sad, but from the 2020 season, only one tuber survived from all the seedlings I was planning on keeping. This was from Wynn’s Pinking of You.
I had all my seedling clumps in my unheated barn in February 2021, when my optimism got the better of me and a cold front came. All the tubers were toast except a peanut sized tuber remained.Moral of the story?
Don’t think tubers will survive in an unheated space in the cold of winter & don’t overlook the little peanut tubers.
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I am currently in the thick of hybridizing dahlias & raising teenage daughters (did I mention we got a puppy as well). One of my goals with hybridizing is two-fold when it comes to introducing them.
I am aiming to get them classified via the ADS (American Dahlia Society), because I desire to breed dahlias which have stood against good standards for form in the dahlia world (however see caveat #3).
I will always document how many years I have grown out a variety. This is due to the rise of hybridizers outside of ADS, and I don’t know why I should trust one hybridizer from the next when it comes to quality dahlias (in regards to form). I want to offer transparency in my hybridizing.
As I mentioned I want to breed within the standards of ADS, I also recognize the value of a garden flower & I am working to distinguish the two in my hybridizing. This means, I will also introduce some dahlias, which are not considered show flowers.
