Tulises suvelillepeenras on mängijad samad, mis möödunud aastal - lemmikud daaliasordid 'David Howard' ja 'Bishop od Llandaff'. Ka siin võiks paar sorti lisaks olla - näiteks D. 'Grenadier' ja D. 'Bishop of Oxford'. Needki pole Hollandi masstoodangu sordid, aga hea tahtmise juured leiab.
Uus õitseja on
Eucomis - tuttliila. Neli sibulat kolmest sordist hankisin möödunud kevadel, kuid järgneval suvel veel õisi polnud. Sel aastal aga õitsevad 'Indian Summer' ja 'Sparkling Burgundy'. Suur lihakas sibul tuleb sügisel üles võtta ja keldris talvitada nagu daaliagi.
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| Dahlia 'David Howard' |
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| Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff' |
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| Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy' |
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| Tuline suvelillepeenar/ Hot Summer Bed |
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| Tuline suvelillepeenar/ Hot Summer Bed |
Pidasin varasemalt daaliaid tülikateks,töömahukateks ning ajast-arust taimedeks. Uhked värvilised õied küll köitsid tähelepanu siin-seal, kuid endale ma neid ei ihaldanud. Ka laiemalt, kunagi äärmiselt ihaldatud ja armastatud taimed kaotasid oma populaarsuse viimastel kümnenditel. Enamasti peeti selle süüks ülearetamist - õied muutusid aina suuremaks, keerukamaks ja värvilisemaks. Lõpuks lihtsalt väsiti sellest virr-varrist.
Aga daalia on taastamas oma populaarsust just lihtõieliste ja ühevärviliste sortide toel, kes on viimastel aastatel leidnud taas omale tee lillepeenardesse püsilillede vahele ja pottidesse terassidel-rõdudel. Daalia on jällekorda moes ning kaunistab ka tipp-aiaajakirjade lehti. Sealt jõudsid nad ka minumi.
Summary: Colourful!
Summer has rolled into a September and it means fall won't be far. But before the last blooms will fade or will be robbed by frosty nights, there will be one final show of colour - the show of dahlias and other late summer bulbs.
This year I planted the tubers straight to the beds, same time as potatoes - at the beginning of June. Just about six weeks later, first buds burst into a bloom. But it's not only now that the hot summer beds are gaining their fullness. Little dahlia bed next to the house is performing really well but plants in Hot Summer Bed could do a little better. I enriched the soil with well rotted horse manure in spring, but dahlias as a greedy plants obviously need some more and would appreciate an additional dose of liquid feed time to time. I have fed them couple of week now and if weather permits, show could only get better.
My collection of dahlias is familiar from English gardening magazines. Once extremely popular genus, it lost its appeal over the last decades, primaly because of so called over-hybridizing. Too large and colourful blooms simply didn't fit in any scheme no more. But dahlia is making a comeback nowadays, as many single bloomed strains and dark foiled cultivars have made their way back to the famous gardens and therefore, to garden magazines too. Personally, I learned to appreciate these plants quite lately. But this has been quick road from crush to deep love, as colourful blooms of dahlias are irreplaceable when most perennials are fading away.
How do you feel about dahlias? What are your experiences in growing them?