"Travis" wrote in message
news
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.

A ****REALLY**** smart gardener would not put an apostrophe in the plural of
dahlia.

Obviously not. A smart gardener would have put a stake in when the
tubers of tall Dahlia's were first planted.

This dumb gardener stakes plants all summer as the need shows. I do
have a few 15 foot pipe for a small tree or two that asked to be
supported. I've also been know to cut tubers in half.... This AM heavy
rain pushed the plox right to the edge.

Dahlia are troublesome here but they will winter over as perennial if
within two feet of our south facing wall. Yup even after last January.

William(Bill)

--
Zone 5 S Jersey USA Shade Earth sometimes.
There is atleast one word misspelled deliberately in the above post. )
http://www.oxymorons.info/ lots of word fun!
Vision Problems? http://www.ocutech.com/

Obviously not. A smart gardener would have put a stake in when the
tubers of tall Dahlia's were first planted.

This dumb gardener stakes plants all summer as the need shows. I do
have a few 15 foot pipe for a small tree or two that asked to be
supported. I've also been know to cut tubers in half.... This AM heavy
rain pushed the plox right to the edge.

Dahlia are troublesome here but they will winter over as perennial if
within two feet of our south facing wall. Yup even after last January.

William(Bill)

--
Zone 5 S Jersey USA Shade Earth sometimes.
There is atleast one word misspelled deliberately in the above post. )
http://www.oxymorons.info/ lots of word fun!
Vision Problems? http://www.ocutech.com/

Doug Kanter wrote:

"Travis" wrote in message
news
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.


A ****REALLY**** smart gardener would not put an apostrophe in the plural of
dahlia.


Gardening had nothing to do with it. I'm a dummy when it comes to
punctuation and grammer.

--
Travis in Shoreline Washington

Doug Kanter wrote:

"Travis" wrote in message
news
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.


A ****REALLY**** smart gardener would not put an apostrophe in the plural of
dahlia.


Gardening had nothing to do with it. I'm a dummy when it comes to
punctuation and grammer.

--
Travis in Shoreline Washington

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
The sale of those those tomato cages is aimed at the same type of person
who
buys a Chrysler mini-van. Hopefully, the customer learns their lesson and
never goes back. And no self respecting Large Plant (dahlia, tomato) will
last long in such a cage. Finally, the fastening method you used had
absolutely ZERO reasons to be successful.


Live and learn. In the past I just let them sprawl. They did fine, but it
was messy. I was thinking about the wire fence method that you mentioned.
I'm sure it would be far superior to the tomato cage. The biggest problem
wasn't that the cages fell over, but that they weren't tall enough.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
The sale of those those tomato cages is aimed at the same type of person
who
buys a Chrysler mini-van. Hopefully, the customer learns their lesson and
never goes back. And no self respecting Large Plant (dahlia, tomato) will
last long in such a cage. Finally, the fastening method you used had
absolutely ZERO reasons to be successful.


Live and learn. In the past I just let them sprawl. They did fine, but it
was messy. I was thinking about the wire fence method that you mentioned.
I'm sure it would be far superior to the tomato cage. The biggest problem
wasn't that the cages fell over, but that they weren't tall enough.

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

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

"Vox Humana" wrote in message
...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
The sale of those those tomato cages is aimed at the same type of person
who
buys a Chrysler mini-van. Hopefully, the customer learns their lesson
and
never goes back. And no self respecting Large Plant (dahlia, tomato)
will
last long in such a cage. Finally, the fastening method you used had
absolutely ZERO reasons to be successful.


Live and learn. In the past I just let them sprawl. They did fine, but
it
was messy. I was thinking about the wire fence method that you mentioned.
I'm sure it would be far superior to the tomato cage. The biggest problem
wasn't that the cages fell over, but that they weren't tall enough.



The rolls of fence wire come in 4', 5' and 6' heights. I use 5' for
tomatoes. I haven't grown big dahlias in years, so I don't recall how huge
they get.

"Vox Humana" wrote in message
...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
The sale of those those tomato cages is aimed at the same type of person
who
buys a Chrysler mini-van. Hopefully, the customer learns their lesson
and
never goes back. And no self respecting Large Plant (dahlia, tomato)
will
last long in such a cage. Finally, the fastening method you used had
absolutely ZERO reasons to be successful.


Live and learn. In the past I just let them sprawl. They did fine, but
it
was messy. I was thinking about the wire fence method that you mentioned.
I'm sure it would be far superior to the tomato cage. The biggest problem
wasn't that the cages fell over, but that they weren't tall enough.



The rolls of fence wire come in 4', 5' and 6' heights. I use 5' for
tomatoes. I haven't grown big dahlias in years, so I don't recall how huge
they get.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"Vox Humana" wrote in message
...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
The sale of those those tomato cages is aimed at the same type of
person
who
buys a Chrysler mini-van. Hopefully, the customer learns their lesson
and
never goes back. And no self respecting Large Plant (dahlia, tomato)
will
last long in such a cage. Finally, the fastening method you used had
absolutely ZERO reasons to be successful.


Live and learn. In the past I just let them sprawl. They did fine, but
it
was messy. I was thinking about the wire fence method that you
mentioned.
I'm sure it would be far superior to the tomato cage. The biggest
problem
wasn't that the cages fell over, but that they weren't tall enough.



The rolls of fence wire come in 4', 5' and 6' heights. I use 5' for
tomatoes. I haven't grown big dahlias in years, so I don't recall how huge
they get.

Mine were at 6 feet when they were blown over.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"Vox Humana" wrote in message
...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
The sale of those those tomato cages is aimed at the same type of
person
who
buys a Chrysler mini-van. Hopefully, the customer learns their lesson
and
never goes back. And no self respecting Large Plant (dahlia, tomato)
will
last long in such a cage. Finally, the fastening method you used had
absolutely ZERO reasons to be successful.


Live and learn. In the past I just let them sprawl. They did fine, but
it
was messy. I was thinking about the wire fence method that you
mentioned.
I'm sure it would be far superior to the tomato cage. The biggest
problem
wasn't that the cages fell over, but that they weren't tall enough.



The rolls of fence wire come in 4', 5' and 6' heights. I use 5' for
tomatoes. I haven't grown big dahlias in years, so I don't recall how huge
they get.

Mine were at 6 feet when they were blown over.

"Vox Humana" wrote in message
...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"Vox Humana" wrote in message
...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
The sale of those those tomato cages is aimed at the same type of
person
who
buys a Chrysler mini-van. Hopefully, the customer learns their
lesson
and
never goes back. And no self respecting Large Plant (dahlia, tomato)
will
last long in such a cage. Finally, the fastening method you used had
absolutely ZERO reasons to be successful.


Live and learn. In the past I just let them sprawl. They did fine,
but
it
was messy. I was thinking about the wire fence method that you
mentioned.
I'm sure it would be far superior to the tomato cage. The biggest
problem
wasn't that the cages fell over, but that they weren't tall enough.



The rolls of fence wire come in 4', 5' and 6' heights. I use 5' for
tomatoes. I haven't grown big dahlias in years, so I don't recall how
huge
they get.

Mine were at 6 feet when they were blown over.



Holy smokes! Were the flower stems nice & straight? If so, maybe you should
be supplying local florists. :-)

Doug Kanter wrote:

The rolls of fence wire come in 4', 5' and 6' heights. I use 5' for
tomatoes. I haven't grown big dahlias in years, so I don't recall how huge
they get.




Dahlias can get quite tall. I have quite a few that are
over six foot (they are the "dinner plate" varieties) and
they are still growing. They usually have blooms that are
in the 7 to 10 inch range and are really beautiful. Some of
mine are visible from the street and people that see them
often ask "are they real?" because they have never seen such
large flowers before.
--
Bill R. (Ohio Valley, U.S.A)

Digital Camera: HP PhotoSmart 850

For pictures of my garden flowers visit
http://members.iglou.com/brosen

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