Mine bloomed--in a slightly different climate. My climate is similar to the
climate in the UK (which is why I take an interest in your fine board), but
not exactly like any specific part of the country. I have warm summers like
the southeast of England but more rain, and the rain is more seasonal (and
pouring right now). I also have a fairly long growing season--I am guessing
that late frosts are rarer here (Pacific Northwest of USA) judging by all
the complaints that British gardners have about early-blooming
Rhododendrons getting frosted.

Mine was "only" about 4 meters tall when it bloomed.

I didn't think the flowers would be much, but they are. They are quite large
for species Dahlias. Unfortunately they are up too high to really
appreciate unless one happens to have them in a really strategic spot. I
can appreciate mine just fine this year, because I cut them off to harvest
the shoots, which I am hoping to root (I was told this was possible; wish
me luck).

Another fine big Dahlia, which blooms more readily, and is of a similar
scale but smaller, is D. tenuicualis. The leaves are distinctly purplish.

Cheers,

Atar

Sacha wrote:

On 9/12/04 16:04, in article ,
"Pam Moore" wrote:

I was lucky enough to have a few hours at Abbotsbury gardens last
weekend.
Just by the exit from the shop to the gardens is a tall (at least 8ft)
dahlia in bloom. Large white flowers, lots of buds. Enquiry told us
dahlia imperialis. (Why do the things you really want to know the name
of have no labels?!)
My friend looked it up in the Plantfinder. A certain Hillhouse
Nursery lists it!
Do you sell seeds, Sacha?

No. But we do have young plants from time to time and I'll be happy to
send
you one next year as long as you remind me. As Bob says, it's doubtful it
will flower outdoors. Ours does flower in the largest of our glasshouses
but not out in the garden. To be frank, the flower is quite dull, it's
the height the plant can achieve which makes it remarkable, I suppose.
Nobody actually expects to see a Dahlia 17' tall.
The Dahlia that David Hill gave us is *much* more lovely, we think. AND
it flowers in the garden here so from the pov of interest and value, I'd
chat him up, if I were you!
I must tell you that various experts disagree on whether either/or is D.
imperialis or D.excelsa but ours are not white! Neither our imperialis
nor
whatever-it-is that David gave us. Chris Brickells told Ray ours is
imperialis and so did a collector of Dahlias, just this autumn and that's
good enough for us, Ray having been given it by someone back from his or
her travels - happens quite a lot here with many plants.
I may say that this same discussion will be heard among those who grow
Passiflorae. One person says we have the apparently 'extinct' John Innes,
another says we do not. ;-)

snip

--
Enjoy reading about special plants from interesting parts of the world on my
blog at a href="http://wildestdreamsofkew.blogspot.com""Wildest Dreams of
Kew"/a