I’ve always been fascinated with plant hybridizing. Attempting to grow my own beautiful dahlias is certainly no exception. Dahlias are octoploid. In simple garden terms, this means that each plant contains tons of genetic material. When dahlias are grown from seeds, gardeners don’t know quite what to expect, as the seedlings very seldom resemble the parent plants. Below, are some of the very interesting results from my own backyard garden.
I first saved my own dahlia seeds in 2020. With the sudden popularity of gardening, I had all but given up on trying to buy my own tubers. Over the course of the 2021 season, I germinated and grew my first batch of seeds. Unfortunately, none of them bloomed. However, they did produce several very healthy tubers. Imagine my surprise when this lovely pink bloom (above) was among the first to open.
This is another one of my favorite seedlings. This one sports a very nice bronze-rust color and a great overall shape. This flower has also been among the most productive, as it is covered with tons of blooms.
The seedling above varies quite a bit from the others in terms of shape. The color is a nice shade of salmon-pink, which is always popular. This one also produces a green center pretty consistently. I know that some people really dislike flowers with green centers, but personally, I find them pleasant.
Another one of my favorite dahlia seedlings from 2020 is this creamy peach-orange. Both its form and coloring remind me of a very popular dahlia variety called ‘Honey Dew.’ As I grew ‘Honey Dew’ in my 2020 garden, it is very possible that the two may be related. There’s really no way to know for certain, as I let the bees do all the pollinating in my yard.
Though I’ve read different opinions on whether or not growing dahlias from seed is worth it; I think that it definitely is. Of a total of 15 seedlings that grew to produce flowers, half of those flowers were worth keeping to evaluate further. What do you think? Have you ever tried growing dahlias from seed? I’d love to know your results in the comments below. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit the blog!
I have not grown dahlias from seed but I have grown other things that people say it’s not worth it.
I don’t know how they evaluate worth because I always find it interesting and a joy to see things germinate and to see how they turn out.
I was not able to comment at the bottom of your blog entry, some kind of malfunction…..
I’ve had no problems growing dahlias from seed, and I leave them in the ground heavily mulched through the winter. My problem is getting the flower heads to look at the sky instead of the ground. Do yours face the ground?
Hi! I’m trying to get some seeds fron my Dahlias but the flower doesnt dry enaugh and most of dry flowers are very wet and tend to rot! any recomendation? if i take the flower of the plant and try to dry indoor?