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Use a Dahlia Log to Organize Your Dig - Page 2

© Susan Ward

Dr. Michael Hickman, Associate Director of the Devonian Botanic Garden in Edmonton, presents a similar simplified classification system in his article ,"Growing Dahlias Successfully" which you may also want to look at, because he includes excellent photographs that may help you decide which class a particular dahlia belongs to. My dahlia-growing friends and I have spent several enjoyable coffee klatches debating whether a particular dahlia is a Decorative or a Waterlily, for instance, and pictures always help.

Once we decide what class a particular dahlia belongs to, we write a description of the dahlia in the log under the appropriate category, including the flower colour, flower size, plant height, and any distinguishing characteristics that we think might help us remember the plant. We try to use the ADS's colour descriptions, so we have some consistency among the group; one gardener's "red" may be another gardener's "purple".

Each entry within each class is identified by number. We pass the log around and each gardener adds the descriptions of varieties that aren't already listed. For example, this year's cactus and semi-cactus category reads:

# 40. White with deep pink-purple outer rays. Yellow central disk when fully open. Flowers are approximately 5 " across. Height 5 to 6 feet tall. Blooms quite late.

# 41. Bright pink full cactus with ragged edges. Flowers approximately 4 " across. Height 3 to 4 feet.

# 42. Salmon cactus. Blooms early. Grows 4 to 5 feet.

# 43. Creamy ivory. Full cactus. Grows 4 to 5 feet.

This year we have almost 80 different varieties of dahlias in our log. You'll notice that we don't have variety names listed here. We do when we know them, but many of the dahlias we grow are dahlias that we've gotten through exchange with other gardeners, and their variety names have been lost.

The beauty of the system is that all we have to write on the tag of each plant is a number, rather than a description, which speeds up the tagging process considerably. So when the time comes, to cut down our dahlias, we just take our Dahlia Log and our tags into the garden, put the appropriate number on the front and back of each tag, and tie a tag around the base of each dahlia before we cut it down to about 6 inches. I like to leave the dahlias stand in the ground for a week or two before I lift them to encourage good eye development, but this isn't always possible if the monsoons have already descended.

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