Guilt-tripped by Dahlias

[nickdub]

Last year I decided to have a go at growing some cactus Dahlias from seed. Surprisingly they came up like mustard and cress, and even after giving a wodge away I still had 100+ plants. Temporizing on what to do with them I planted them in wooden containers and some of them surprised me again by flowering.

So given they were obviously "have a go" plants I felt I ought to be a bit involved in looking after them - I stored them in the cool over Winter and this Spring planted them up again in containers. So now I have plants with new shoots looking at me in the poly-tunnel and making me feel guilty.

Now my garden as a whole is divided in to 3 parts - a small orchard (reasonably tidy but fully occupied), a lawn and poly-tunnels (not something which the other half would want to see given over to flower beds) and the rest, which is something which could be described as a wilderness crossed with a scrapyard. Looking over this latter area the one bit which would be suitable is behind the pond, it sported a dead plum tree and an under-planting of snow drops/daffodils mixed with stinging nettles and ground elder.

So the dahlias have shamed me in to taking a chainsaw to the plum tree and hacking/forking through the rest of it - about two more days work to go clearing and replanting the bulbs elsewhere I suppose, then I can decide how to proceed.

I wonder if anyone-else finds themselves doing garden work because they can't face their plants if they don't ?

[bario1]

Yep, i've done it with asparagus (crowns delivered before preparing the bed) and more recently i ordered some bog plants off Ebay and they arrived the next day(!) - before i'd put in the bog garden. Fear of wasting money and killing perfectly healthy plants is the only thing that can motivate me to do the necessary hard work.

[Scarlet]

Haha!! Same as me...I cleared a 20ft x3 ft area yesterday for my dahlia plants that I decided to take cuttings/split the tubers etc along with the extra order I didn't need. Not sure I will be able to keep it weed free but I will use them for cutting flowers. Looking forward to being able to cut them without feeling guilty of taking them from my garden display.

[veggiechicken]

I garden on a JIT basis - that's Just in Time. The moment the plants arrive or the seedlings are ready to plant out, I decide where they can go, and clear a space for them.
If there's an accidental clear space, I fill it within anything that's handy (except the dogs or chooks).
Still can't find a big enough space for 800 gladioli though. How small a space do you think they need?

[gardening_gal]

I wonder if anyone-else finds themselves doing garden work because they can't face their plants if they don't ?

Not garden work but I have a piddly wee cactus that I got from Ikea yonks ago. Don't really know why I bought it, I'm not a lover of cactus plants generally. This thing (for years) has been ignored, seriously abused and neglected (even left in a moving box for weeks) and it will not die. It does it's damnedest to stay alive, even when the earth fell out of it's pot and all it had was the earth around it's roots, it still held on.

I was looking at it the other day and felt shame that I'd given it such a hard time and not cared for it at all. I happily care for other plants and I felt really guilty I'd ignored this one. So I ordered a new bag of cactus compost from Amazon for it and I'm going to look after it now.

What's your bets it's some sort of freak of nature than thrives on abuse and it'll die now I'm looking after it.

[Scarlet]

What's your bets it's some sort of freak of nature than thrives on abuse and it'll die now I'm looking after it.

That's exactly what I thought when I read your post good luck!!

[Thelma Sanders]

I was looking at it the other day and felt shame that I'd given it such a hard time and not cared for it at all. I happily care for other plants and I felt really guilty I'd ignored this one. So I ordered a new bag of cactus compost from Amazon for it and I'm going to look after it now.

What's your bets it's some sort of freak of nature than thrives on abuse and it'll die now I'm looking after it.

Whatever you do don't suddenly start watering it regularly! - I killed my old Xmas cactus by repotting and watering it

[mysteryduck]

So I ordered a new bag of cactus compost from Amazon for it and I'm going to look after it now.

What's your bets it's some sort of freak of nature than thrives on abuse and it'll die now I'm looking after it.

The usual mix for cacti / succulents is 30% John Innes 2, 30% horticultural grit, and 30% pumice. Premade mixes don’t have enough non organic material and retain too much water. Over watering is the biggest cause of cacti / succulent death. So if you can, dump some grit in your mix

[Atta]

Gardening_gal my grandmother kept for years (about 20 as for my knowlege) a cacutus under her bed She barely water it.Then we decided to rescue it and every year it is flowering.

[1Bee]

... a wilderness crossed with a scrapyard...

You've seen my plot, then? I immediately experienced a warm, connected sense of camaraderie when I read that...

And yes, I often end up doing crazy things because a plant was looking at me funny. I'm going through agonies this year because I accidentally over-ordered seed potatoes!

[nickdub]

Quick update - managed a couple of hours yesterday on the soon to be dahlia plot.

Lit the wood stove this morning - toast and a cup of tea. Sat and fiddled with the computer . Went outside for more wood cold and v wet but garden still there . Checked poly-tunnel and did a little watering - potted on two borage seedlings. Brought the wood back in followed by the garden robin, who is always hoping I'll do a bit more digging - probably in league with the dahlias.

What to do next ? Lunch maybe - fried rice with chicken stir fry ?

Wonder if I'd do more if I lived somewhere warmer, or if I'd be just as lazy ....

[nickdub]

Got a lot of the weeds cleared from the plot behind the pond. Planted an impulse buy Louise Bonne of Jersey in it. So today, as I need the poly-tunnel space for the tomatoes which are over 30" high , I made an executive decision and planted out some dahlias. More to follow ...

Anybody know if deer will eat them BTW ? sound find out by trial, I suppose ....

[Scarlet]

Are you chancing plants or planting tubers?

[nickdub]

Are you chancing plants or planting tubers?

Plants - the biggest is about 10" tall - I've got some fleece knocking around so I'll keep an eye on the forecast for frosts.

[bramble]

As I said in an earlier post.
Bought some dahlia tubers from Lidl about 4 to 6 weeks ago.
Potted them all up and 11 out of 13 grew.
As we were going on holiday there was no choice but to put them outdoors.
Left the pots under the south facing wall with fingers crossed.
Checked them this morning and there is a bud on one of them.
They are all looking really healthy.