Dahlias in Hawaii?

[csgray]

Has anyone successfully grown dahlias in Hawaii? If so, in what type of micro climate? I especially am interested in growing the huge dinner plate sized Dahlias which originated in Africa and other exotic heritage dahlias, not the patented varieties I've seen sold in garden centers here. I haven't seen them on any of the banned lists and the tubers are usually sold without any soil attached, but I wondered how they would do here.

Carol

[emorata]

i've seen a few dahlias at the bian summer sale, but they were not the big dinner sized variety...would be nice to try since it would be an all year plant here.


noel

[csgray]

We grew some huge purple and white striped shaggy ones in Oregon that were from African stock, or so we were told by the plant fiend we got them from. The stems were 2" across at the base, 5' tall plants. I figured if they originated in the tropics they might do well in Hawaii. The hardest part might be figuring out when to lift and divide the tubers. Slugs wintering in the tubers were an issue when I didn't lift them, but the winter time ground in the Willamette Valley was a whole lot soggier than cinder ever gets.

Carol

[Mitzi M]

Well, in other places I have also grown dahlias but the problem was always was how to store them over winter so they don't rot or dry out too much or get eaten by bugs. Unfortunately I haven't had much success so I've had one year of brilliant plants and flowers and then...sadly I had to buy more to plant the next year. They are originally from the mountainous regions of central Mexico, Central America down to Colombia. They need some decent soil, but the real trick is they need to be lifted and stored in cold but not freezing temps for like 3 months - and kept at the proper moisture levels. If you can spare the room in your fridge then it may work out. I have some happy memories of their delightful flowers. Let me know how it goes!

Aloha,
Mitzi

[csgray]

I wonder if in Hawaii I could get away with just lifting and dividing the tubers and then replanting, or do they absolutely require the chilling time? The really successful growers I knew in Oregon stored the cleaned tubers wrapped in newspaper in paper sacks or packed in wood shavings in their garages. There are all these backyard dahlia fanciers who breed and sell dahlias, you can walk through their gardens and place orders for the spring. We got super carried away one year and ended up with over 25 different varieties. We lifted the tubers in two years and they were bigger than the biggest sweet potatoes you've ever seen.

Carol