Dahlia Seedling ‘Picoteee’

Dahlia seedlings……..just like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get!

Due to the high genetic diversity of Dahlias, plants grown from seed do NOT produce copies of the patent plants. Seedlings may carry some parent traits, but often none. 90% of seedlings end up in the compost due to reasons including poor form/structure, low petal count, poor/weak stems, poor bloom angles, poor pest resistance, poor tuber storage etc. Large open/green centres are also a reason many seedlings end up in the bin, although it is not unusual for the first blooms of the season for each plant to be a bit unruly, so before culling I allow some seedlings to produce a couple of blooms before pulling them out.

The photos attached are the first seedling to bloom this season. This is the plants first flower. Firstly the good points….this bloom had wonderful long, dark, straight and strong stems which is always on wish list. It is a strong, full, healthy plant that has started producing a lot of buds…..another plus. This one has a gorgeous dark outline around each petal……this is called ‘picotee’, which I love. Now for the reasons it will most likely end up in the compost. Most importantly, the large open/green centre. The aim is for full blooms without open centre. While this can improve with subsequent blooms, this one is pretty large so I am not confident this one will improve. The other problem is the poor/inconsistent petal formation & petal count, usually enough for me to compost straight away, this one for some reason caught my attention and if the centre can improve would still look lovely in a vase. I don’t grow for the exhibition bench but for nice vase flowers, so for now I will enjoy its colour for a little longer while I’m waiting for other flowers to bloom.
Happy growing everyone!