The whole dahlia saga-- 2025 wasn't great and 2026 probably won't be either.
2025 was my first year growing dahlias and I wanted to be really careful not to introduce gall or other disease to what so far had been a pleasant gardening experience.Other than a peony with virus, things had been going well. In the interest of protecting my yard from dahlia diseases, I opted to grow everything in pots for the first year with the idea that the second year the good ones would get planted in in ground. I added approximately 139 dahlias varieties, mostly single quantities but some duplicated varieties. During the season, 18 of those failed to grow. I didn't properly protect from rain and a chunk of them came in wrinkled and not sprouted. I should have presprouted and covered. I purged 6 that were import tubers and wrong variety- plus ugly flowers. I purged 6 varieties for obvious virus. I purged 14 so far for crown gall, the most recent was BQ Jean which I found crown gall on today. Always presprout your tubers! I'm sure I haven't hit the end of my crown...
