Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Dahlia 'Myrtle's Folly'

Remember this bud-about-to-open from last week?


Day 1 - July 30, 2011 - 7:30 am.
The bud  opened  and  I looked up my Breck's invoice to see what I had ordered.
No wonder I don't remember ordering this. Myrtle looks nothing like the picture I ordered from--not even remotely the right color. But I do love the rich raspberry color & the raggedy edges, so I am not terribly disappointed.


 I even like the odd light pink petals in the back. So far the only slight negative is that the flower is on the small side.

 I soon discovered that Myrtle was not what she appeared to be.


Just twelve hours after opening she's changing colors.  Her open twisted petals are revealing yellows with gentle brush strokes of orange...



Day 2 - July 31, 8:00 a.m. -



Day 2 - 12 hours later (July 31, 7:30 pm) - her fuzzy-looking petals are now more purple than raspberry. 
It looks like a fire is burning in the center and she's getting bigger.





Day 4 - August 2 - 6:30 a.m.  I run out before leaving for work to see what she looks like. .. pretty much the same as yesterday. She is triple the size of Day 1.  I put my outstretched hand behind her and took a picture.
You cannot even see my hand! 
 I got a tape measure to see how big she was. The ad I purchased from said she would be 8 inches.


It's pretty difficult to hold the tape measure and take a picture. I think she's about 7 inches--close enough for me.

4:00 pm- 8/2/11 -  Side view
Notice the raindrops?  Whooo Hoooo it's raining!

She finally ended up as a big 7-inch  yellow/pink/purple powder puff--totally different than when she first opened!

I have had such fun with Myrtle's Folly's first bloom. It was a thrill for me to go out each day to see what colors appeared and how much bigger she was.  

I am 100% happy with this dahlia from Breck's!

Update 8/6/2011 2pm :  Day 8 and Myrtle is still looking good.


I try to be very honest with reviews of the flowers I get from this company.  If they do good, I tell you. If they do bad, I tell you.  I ordered 3 different dahlias last fall.  I was really excited about this one, called 'Santa Claus'.
When I planted 'Santa Claus', the tubers did not look good--pretty skimpy.

I planted both  in one container.  I almost cried when NOTHING came up!  Zero, Zilch, Nada. A total waste of my hard-earned money.

So far I have had one good/one very bad. I still have one more to show you. Only one of the two tubers came up in the next dahlia, which is just beginning to bloom. It's a black star-shaped dahlia which is supposed to turn to a red color as it ages.  Two flowers just opened and they are indeed black. I am excited to see what happens with them. I will show you what happens next week.

19 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness - what a dandy she turned out to be!!!! I love the dahlias too - have only one coming up in a pot from three plantings. My sister has a way with these - she grows crazy HUGE ones! Wait until I tell her about your Myrtle - the changling!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Zoey that is incredible the way you tracked the dahlia opening! It is gorgeous!
    I looked on GardenWatchDog.com when we were talking about the yellow allium and they gave this company a bad rating.
    I do hope they make it right for you...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Quite possibly the most beautiful flower ever. Simply amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That is spectacular! I would send Breck's a photo of the prize and then tell them nothing came up from the Santa Claus tubers. I think they should send you more as you are such a faithful customer.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That is one beautiful Dahlia.So huge! I have gotten several Dinner Plate Dahlias, but never got much size out of them. Yours is huge!

    I agree with Dianne-you should let them know about the Santa Claus tubers-I'm sure they would replace them or at least give you credit.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love how you followed the progress of the dahlia bloom. She is truly beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What fun it would be to see the ever changing color of this one!!!The only problem I have with dahlias is they never seem to face up so that you can enjoy them.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I see why you are satisfied with that one Zoey..looks gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a gorgeous flower Zoey! Too bad the other dahlia didn't grow. Look forward to seeing the thrid one though.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's one beautiful flower. The other tubers I would complain to the company for a refund.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a beauty! I planted 2 each of 3 kinds of dahlia tubers. Two of one came up, and one each of the other 2 came up, but one of those died. Of the pair that came up, one of the plants blooms look like they are supposed to, but the other plant's blooms are single.

    Thanks for identifying my butterfly.

    ReplyDelete
  12. That's weird, I edited my post before typing the word verification, but then, it posted without me typing the word in. Usually, if I do that, it tell me I typed the word incorrectly, and gives me another. I am saying this so I can see if I get a word to verify this time.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Appreciate your comments. I like dahlias but they have to be dug up and so I don't have any. I am your new follower. Come by if you'd like to follow also.
    Ohio Outdoors

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a beautiful Dahlia...amazing colors and the size, wow! I am definately going to make a note to try and order one for next year. Incidently, my Granddaugter's name is Zoe. (-:

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow, Zoey... Now that's a Flower! How beautiful and how cool that it just keeps changing and getting better and better. Love your reporting on this bloom, fantastic job!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Amazing!! What a difference from beginning to end. Just gorgeous. Send Brecks a note about the Santa Claus and the other that didn't grow. Couldn't hurt. Santa Claus looked to be so cheerful.
    *hugs*deb

    ReplyDelete
  17. This is simply the most spectacular dahlia ever. Her name is going on the wishlist.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I hope you know, I bought this dahlia after reading your blog - and it just as spectacular. Thank you for your honest review - I enjoy your blog very much.

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate you taking the time and effort to leave a comment. I will try to answer any questions you have. Please note due to Blogger changing word verification so almost nobody can read it, I have had to change to no word verification and only allow registered users to comment.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...