On 8/1/04 1:59 PM, in article ,
"Travis" wrote:

Cheryl Isaak wrote:

On 8/1/04 2:35 AM, in article ,
"Travis" wrote:


Cheryl Isaak wrote:


On 7/31/04 7:17 PM, in article ,
"Vox Humana" wrote:



I planted some large dahlias this year using a support system that someone
(here?) recommended. It consisted of tomato cages that had the lets cut
off. You put the cage on the ground, large circle down, and fastened it
to
the ground with the wire legs that you cut off.

All went well for a while. The dahlia got to be about 6 feet tall and
were
covered with flowers. Last nigh we had a moderate storm with some big
gusts. One neighbor lost his Bradford pear (not that it was a shock).
The
wind broke off my dahlias about two fee from the ground. They are all
bent
over and pinched tightly on main stem. I doubt that they could be
uprighted
and live? Any advice would be appreciated. At this point I assume that
the
only thing I can do is cut them off at the ground and let them start over.




I haven't done it, but my mom does and grandmother did - stick a bamboo
pole/stake and gently and frequently tie the stem to the stake. Gram had a
supply of stakes up to 10 foot tall just for this problem; she grew dahlias
competitively back in the 60's.

Cheryl


Be careful when sticking anything in the ground now, you don't want to
pierce the tubers.


I assumed he ( and most gardeners) would be smart enough to know that.

Cheryl

Obviously not. A smart gardener would have put a stake in when the
tubers of tall Dahlia's were first planted.
Gram did that with the ones she knew would get really tall, but every so
often something would surprise her!

I have a fond memory of her with this one dinner plate dahlia that must have
gotten much taller than expected; she had me teach her knots to bind several
of those 10 foot poles together and hold the step stool while she secured
it.

Cheryl