Hi Y'all,

My 3-yr old son picked out a dahlia from the store back in May. Please
keep in mind, to him this is "his" flower in "mommy's" flower bed and he
is very attached to it! When we bought the plant, there were 2 blossoms
and several buds, after those two blossoms died out, one of the buds
opened, but none of the others did. A few more buds popped up, but for
some reason, they are all turning black and dying before they can bloom.
All the leaves are fine and seem to be quite healthy, but the buds
turn black, starting at the very top of it, and then running down the
plant. It reminds me of when frost has killed something in the garden,
but there's been no frost or cold weather in this area for a few months
now. (south-eastern NC, on the border of zone 7B-8B.) I've never had a
problem growing any dahlia's in this same flower bed before, so this has
me stumped. Any ideas on what may be causing this or how I can stop it
before it possibly kills the entire plant??

Thanks!
~Rae

Jangchub wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:11:47 -0400, rachael simpson
wrote:

snipped

Have you had a lot of rain lately?

The other thing is this is a really amazing opportunity to teach your
son that attachment is not a desired state of mind. Oh how I wish I
had a mommy who taught me that when I was a little girl.

Nope, rain has been in short supply around here. I do keep everything
watered regularly, though.

In article ,
rachael simpson wrote:

Hi Y'all,

My 3-yr old son picked out a dahlia from the store back in May. Please
keep in mind, to him this is "his" flower in "mommy's" flower bed and he
is very attached to it! When we bought the plant, there were 2 blossoms
and several buds, after those two blossoms died out, one of the buds
opened, but none of the others did. A few more buds popped up, but for
some reason, they are all turning black and dying before they can bloom.
All the leaves are fine and seem to be quite healthy, but the buds
turn black, starting at the very top of it, and then running down the
plant. It reminds me of when frost has killed something in the garden,
but there's been no frost or cold weather in this area for a few months
now. (south-eastern NC, on the border of zone 7B-8B.) I've never had a
problem growing any dahlia's in this same flower bed before, so this has
me stumped. Any ideas on what may be causing this or how I can stop it
before it possibly kills the entire plant??

Thanks!
~Rae

Uh-oh(

Does this sound familiar?

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Plant-Dis...hlia-dying.htm

Q.
" . . . my dahlia's are also drying out. they stopped flowering a long
time ago but the leaves were still healthy. then all of a sudden it
looked like they hadn't been watered in months. which is not the case. "

A.
"I am afraid that your marigolds and dahlias have typical symptoms of
Southern bacterial wilt, caused by _Ralstonia solanacearum_, a
widespread and destructive disease of numerous crops in the warm
climates. It is a major disease of tobacco, tomato, potato, dahlia,
geranium, hollyhock, hydrangea, marigold, nasturtium, zinnia and others.
Bacterial wilt is the most frequent disease problem of marigolds."

Some say you have a chance to save the plant by cutting off the infected
areas. (Be sure to sanitize cutting instrument between cuts.) Others say
to just pull it and don't compost it. There is no treatment and you
can't plant another one in the same bed.

It most likely came home from the nursery with you.

See web.aces.uiuc.edu/vista/pdf_pubs/607.pdf
for other plants affected by this pathogen.

I'm really not an ornamental grower, so hopefully someone else will be
along to confirm or deny my suspicions.

- Billy

The President is merely the most important among a large number of
public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree
which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or
inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the
Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there
should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means
that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to
praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen
is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of
the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong,
is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the
American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any
one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or
unpleasant, about him than about any one else.

Theodore Roosevelt
Kansas City Star (1918-05-07)