Dahlia landracing project in the far north of Scotland

Oct 27, 2024 06:31:53

When we moved to the highlands (57°55 north) I brough quite a few plants. (The movers were polite enough to just smile) One of them was my partner C's dahlia. His mother grows them in The Netherlands and he loves them. On arrival I plonked in the ground, and it lingered for two years or so and then vanished.

Now my mother-in-law is a dear lady who insists on giving me birthday and Sinterklaas (Dutch st. Nick) gifts. But only 'good' gifts, so not always what I would want 😂 Since I also already have everything, this is a problem of sorts. So every year I rack my brain to find something that will be useful, and that will be approved by the queeny of gifts.
After reading in one of James Wong's books (homegrown revolution?🤔) that dahlia bulbs are edible .. well you can probably guess.

A few weeks before my birthday I received a parcel containing 40 dahlia bulbs 🤣 about thirty more than I was expectinging. She doesn't do half jobs, my mother in law. So there was some frantic finding of crates and dry compost. Somehow I managed to get all of them in pots/the ground in spring.

They were a lot later than the ones in NL, but some were quite early and bloomed for months.

There are 2 Lilac time. Huge, huge flowers. Late and the insects can't get at the pollen/nectar because of the flower's structure. Pretty, but why would I grow something the pollinators can't eat?? C pointed out that they would be good for textile dye, since they've huge and I won't feel bad about picking them 🐝 so, maybe I'll find them a corner. Maybe.

2 bishop of Llandaff. Late. Very striking. The first flower broke off, so I doubt it will produce seed this year, but hey, they might.

30 bee friendly mix. This is where the magic lives. They're awesome. They are open, some with a double origami-looking ruff of petals. Lovely shades, short and tall. And popular with pollinators. Bumblebees overnight on them, even hiding between the leaves of the doubles, then continue eating as the sun hits.(it's hilarious)
I'm leaving the tubers in the ground (lazy badger is me) and saving seed from the earliest flowers to see if I can't landrace them into being Scottish.

Anyone done this to dahlias by any chance? Advice, stories and tips are very welcome!

Oct 27, 2024 06:49:39

We're in Scotland at 58.5°N (3.6°W) and haven't tried Dahlia's yet. We're doing quite well with Turks Head Day Lily's if you'd like a swap, they have an edible corm but not sure how palatable.
https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Lilium+superbum
Looks like this...
https://levensgarden.wordpress.com/category/yellow-turks-cap-lily/
Steve

Oct 28, 2024 03:52:08

We have a clump of those in the garden, I didn't know they were edible! Thanks Steve

I'm happy to send you some of the dahlia seeds if you like? So far I've harvested from the three earliest plants.

Send your address in a Moosage if you want some and I'll pop them in the post.

Oct 28, 2024 17:07:19

I believe most lillies are edible (asparagus is in the lily family), although some people can have reactions to them and the pollen is poisonous to cats.

I have just one Dahlia, which has survived complete neglect here for several years. It has flowers with red and white petals in varying proportions. I suspect it flowers too late to set seed - this year it only started flowering a couple of weeks ago. I may try dividing it this year, as part of it seems to have settled on pure white flowers as if it has mutated. Maybe I'll try a tuber for palatability. I think I read that cactus type flowers have tastier tubers, but I suspect that growing conditions will have as much contribution. I have nibbled on a few petals and they have a sweet flavour - could be a nice addition to a salad perhaps.

Have you tried eating the tubers at all?

Nov 08, 2025 01:04:51

Hello,
Nice story ! and lovely Sinterklaas gift ! I come from Belgium therefor I'm familiar with Saint Nicolas

Personnaly I never tasted dahlia - they don't grow well in my sandy soil when we have a dry season - which happened a few years ago and they could not stand it... I prefer the simple florwers too...
Here a some organic dalhia bulb producers which are part of the slow flower network - but I see they don't chose especially the ones bee can pollinate ... I guess the most popular for bouquet are the big ones with many petals...
https://www.lent.be/product-category/ecological-dahlia-bulbs/
https://www.lesfleursdekeraret.com/galerie-dahlias
Best wishes,
Kali

Nov 08, 2025 18:13:56

When I bred dahlias, I selected for simple open flowers, because they got pollinated better.

Nov 12, 2025 08:00:51

Some of this year's successful growers; some very nice ones came out of last year's seeds.
Due to the dry weather not all of them were successful at making flowers, maybe next year!

Haven't yet collected seeds ( thanks for the reminder Steve). With a bit of luck they'll still be mostly there & viable. I'll report back once I'm sure I have some to share!

Nov 12, 2025 08:08:15

More pics

Tongue wrestling. It's not what you think. And here, take this tiny ad. You'll need it.

The new purple deck of permaculture playing cards

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paulwheaton/garden-cards