dahlia vendor reviews

DAHLIA VENDOR REVIEWS

on may 29, i purchased dahlias from 5 different dahlia vendors. today' i'll be reviewing the 5 companies and comparing their services. of the 5, i would definitely order from 4 of them again, but there is one company that i would not particularly recommend.

the 5 companies i ordered from were:

1. Swan Island Dahlias - i ordered 22 dahlia tubers + 2 bonus tubers from Swan Island Dahlias. of all of the companies i purchased from, i was most impressed with this one. even though i was late in the season for purchasing tubers, they still had a wide selection of varieties available. they shipped my order the same day i ordered it (!), which really impressed me. i ordered on friday, the package arrived on monday and included valuable information for caring for my plants. all tubers arrived in great condition. this company was my favorite to work with. they shipped quickly with a tracking number, were very efficient in their communication, exhibited great customer service, and the tubers arrived healthy. i would definitely recommend purchasing from them and i can hardly wait to purchase from them again early next season! thank you Swan Island Dahlias!!

gitty up dahlia i ordered from swan island dahlias

twilite dahlia i ordered from swan island dahlias

2. Eden Brothers - i ordered 18 tubers + 8 packets of seed from Eden Brothers. i ordered on friday and my package shipped priority mail with a tracking number on tuesday. my box arrived quickly and included bonus packets of seeds. what i really liked about this company is that, instead of shipping single/individual tubers, they shipped clumps of tubers (so 1 clump of tubers = 1 "tuber"). their communication was great. i do wish their tubers were stamped - only because when the dog dug them up, i no longer knew which tuber belonged to which label. so now i have to wait until they bloom to re-label them, which isn't a big deal, but now i do know to mark them when they arrive in the future. still, i would recommend purchasing from them and look forward to ordering from them again. great experience.

cafe au lait dahlia i ordered from edenbrothers.com

edinburgh dahlia i ordered from edenbrothers.com

3. Honken Dahlias - i ordered 3 tubers from Honken Dahlias. i would have purchased more from them, but because i was ordering so late in the season, many of their varieties were already sold out. one of the tubers i ordered ended up actually being sold out, but i was promptly offered my choice of replacement or a refund for that particular tuber. i chose to replace it with another variety that would make a lovely cut flower. i ordered on a friday and my order shipped with a tracking number on monday. even though my order was small, they included a beautiful bonus tuber! this company had quick shipping, great communication and customer service, healthy tubers, and i would order from them again. i do recommend working with them.

miss amara dahlia i ordered from honkendahlias.com

ivanetti dahlia i ordered from honkendahlias

4. Old House Dahlias - i ordered 10 tubers from Old House Dahlias. the only thing i was not thrilled about with this company was the lack of initial communication about my order being processed or shipped. they did not provide a tracking number or let me know that my order had been shipped, so i did not know what to expect. the day i wrote them to ask for an update, though, was the day that my package actually arrived, so they did ship quickly. i just did not know it. i had emailed them to check the status of my order the morning of the day it arrived and they promptly called me (twice, when they could not reach me the first time) to let me know my order had shipped and to make sure i had received the package. so their customer service is excellent, but just be aware they do not provide a tracking number (unless my experience was not the norm). the package did arrive quickly and the tubers looked great! i would order from them again and recommend purchasing from them.

giggles dahlia i ordered from oldhousedahlias

ruskin gypsy dahlia i ordered from oldhousedahlias

5. Dutch Gardens - i ordered 8 tubers from Dutch Gardens. i hate to leave a negative review about any company, but i would not purchase from this company again, nor would i recommend them to anyone. their order processing time is 1-2 weeks, which is much longer than the other 4 companies i ordered from. i had received my packages from all 4 of the other companies and had still not received a shipping confirmation or update from this one. while their tubers did arrive in good condition, this company did not let me know when my order had shipped and did not provide a tracking number. they were slow to reply to my request for a status update too. i will not be purchasing from them again because my experience was exponentially better with the other 4 companies and left me feeling a bit disappointed with the service of this one. i don't recommend purchasing from them. you would receive better and quicker service from one of the other 4 vendors listed above.

mr. optimist dahlia i ordered from dutchgardens

so there you have it! have you purchased from any of these vendors? or do you have another company from which you prefer to order dahlias? leave a comment below or send me an email. i'd love to hear about your experiences with different companies.

much love,
erin

garden journal week 2

GARDEN JOURNAL - WEEK 2

week 2 weather was in the 60s to the low 80s with some overcast days and misty mornings.


day 4 - did not go to the garden space

day 5 - checked the water and refilled the bottom flats of the seed trays as needed. added bone meal to the tuber flats that i had forgotten to include bone meal in on day 3.

day 6 - i don't think i have previously mentioned that the owner of the growing space we are using has a dog that lives there at the space. well, she decided to dig up several of the tuber flats and carry off the tubers. the good thing is, they were not harmed and we were able to recover the tubers. the not-so-great part is that the ones she chose to dig up were the ones that arrived in clumps and did not have the variety names stamped on them. so we will just have to wait until they bloom to be able to re-label them with their correct names. so we went to re-situate them today. some of the sunflowers and zinnias sprouted!

day 7 - the dog dug up more tubers, so we ended up stacking palettes on top of the tables we were using for the seed trays and tuber flats, then placing the trays and flats on top of those so that the dog would no longer be able to reach them. this has been effective so far for keeping the dog away from the plants. we also moved the tables a bit so the trays will receive more sun.

day 8 - the seedlings are looking great and the tubers are starting to show green leaves! some of the tubers are looking quite dry, so i am debating whether or not i should give them a bit of mist or moisture. some sources say to keep them absolutely dry so they won't rot, while other sources say to water thoroughly, so i may have to experiment to see what works best for our situation.

day 9 - did not go to the growing space today

day 10 - i sowed 3 more seed trays today (216 plants) and provided them bottom-water from the bottom trays only. (i did not overhead water these trays as an experiment.) the seeds that i planted in succession (a second batch), i planted based on which varieties had the best germination rate in the first batch i planted. altogether, i planted 42 more sunflowers, 72 more zinnias, 24 rudbeckia, 12 echinacea, 6 Jupiter's beard, 6 butterfly flower, 12 lupine, 6 cosmos, 6 nasturtium, 6 basil, 6 hyssop, 6 tomatoes, 6 borage, and 6 cress. i also planted out the last of the dahlias, as the final box of them came in the mail this week. i still need to add bone meal to this tray of dahlias. also, i gave them a bit of water to see how they do as compared to the ones i have not give water. so for today, 216 plants, plus 8 dahlias were set out. many of the seedlings that were planted last week are doing great, though some have not yet sprouted.

garden journal day 3

GARDEN JOURNAL DAY 3

6-7:30 pm overcast day, 65 degrees

jon went with me to the growing space today. we received 3 more of the packages of tubers and seeds that we had ordered, so we headed over to get the dahlias set out and the seeds sown. i am just waiting on one more shipment of dahlia tubers now and then we will be finished with those until next season.

one of the companies we ordered from sent some pretty impressive tuber clusters! this was new for us since we had been receiving single tubers in other shipments. it was neat to see the difference and get an idea of what our little single tubers will look like in the next couple years.

today, we set out 33 more dahlia tubers. this batch we set out in straight organic garden soil, with no compost. i neglected to bring the organic bone meal with me to the growing space today, so i will have to add that in when i go over there tomorrow.

we also filled 2 more 72-cell seed trays with seed that came in the mail today. that's a total of 144 more plants sown (not counting the dahlias) - 60 more zinnias, 12 more sunflowers, 12 more nigella, plus 12 baby's breath, 24 snapdragons, 12 salvia, and 12 monarda.

happy gardening!

garden journal - day 2

GARDEN JOURNAL - DAY 2

7:30 AM - misty and overcast, with an expected high of 69 degrees F.

i drove over to the garden space to check on the seeds and tubers today. the eyes and sprouts on the tubers are looking pink and plump.

the bottom-watered seed flats are doing their job well. the soil is nice and moist, perfect for germinating our little plant babies. i didn't water today since it was unnecessary.

since it's really a waiting game at this point, i will probably post updates in batches (1 blog post for every few days) so every post doesn't start to look and sound the same.  =)

garden journal - day 1

GARDEN JOURNAL - DAY 1

in all of the flower farming books i have read, authors recommend keeping a very detailed garden journal. i have never been great at consistently journaling, but the idea of keeping good records of what i am growing appeals to me. i decided to start my garden journal digitally so that i can add images easily. i figure it will be great practice for the variety trial i am planning for this fall too. =)

6.2.15 - weather, sunny and lovely, 70 degrees

8-10 AM - i drove over to the garden space to get the first round of seeds started and the first tubers set out. i am still waiting on several shipments of seeds and tubers, but since i am planning to plant several things in succession, i wanted to get started with the first batch.

anna helped me get the seed flats ready. i am using 72-cell seed starting trays with holes on the bottom placed on top of seed flats that hold water for easy bottom-watering. i have never tried this method for starting seeds, but it is highly recommended for developing strong roots, so i am giving it a go.

we filled the bottom half of each seed compartment with good quality, organic compost so when the little baby roots dig down, there will be a feast waiting for them. topped that layer with a layer of organic garden soil. we then sowed the seeds per packet depth instructions, 1 per compartment for most plants. 2 per compartment for some of the more fragile foliages. topped everything off with a layer of organic seed starting mix. gave everything a light overhead watering with a rain attachment on the hose, and set the seed trays in the flats of water.

i used popsicle sticks as labels this round. they're cheap and easy. you can purchase them at the local craft store in 1000 ct. boxes for less than $5 if you use a coupon.

seeds we planted today:
- 96 sunflowers (8 varieties - )
- 96 zinnias (8 varieties)
- 36 larkspur (3 varieties)
- 48 fillers/foliages (4 varieties)
- 12 nigella

total: 288 plants

while this is not a huge number, i will be sowing more seeds weekly and our plant count will be well into the 'massive range' very soon.

we also set out the first batch of dahlia tubers today. i am still waiting on several shipments of tubers to arrive, but since i am a little late with getting them set out, i wanted to go ahead and get started with the 29 varieties i already have. i am planning to take cuttings from them before placing them in their permanent homes, so for now, i have them laid out in a seed flat to sprout. there is a tiny layer of organic compost, topped with a bit of organic bone meal, topped with a layer of organic garden soil under them. i laid them out on top, labeled them accordingly, and topped with another light layer of organic garden soil. experts seem to disagree about whether or not to water them at this stage, so for this batch, i did not water them.

their eyes are looking healthy and pink and i am excited to see them start to grow! i will post a tutorial in a couple weeks for taking cuttings from them. cuttings can double or triple your plant count really quickly when you're starting out your dahlia collection, so, in my opinion, it's worth trying.

organic flowers in southern california

GROWING ORGANIC FLOWERS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

this summer, we will be harvesting our first crop of local, organically grown flowers! it really is an exciting season for us. we have wanted to start our own microfarm for years and we have finally made the decision to move toward that goal. since we live an organic lifestyle (and erin is flower obsessed), growing organic flowers is a natural first step.

we haven't always grown flowers. we started out growing organic veggies and fruits in a family member's yard and on our apartment's balcony (see pic below). but flowers are addicting...there is just something about the pretty little things that pulls you in.

our apartment balcony garden -featuring organically grown fruits, veggies, flowers, & succulents, & jon's custom-built planter boxes

when i started researching the idea of growing organic flowers, i learned that most of our blooms here are actually imported and coated with harmful toxins and chemicals. but with the growing movement toward purchasing locally grown, organic flowers that are safe for our families and our environment, it is really a perfect time to start growing.

so after much planning, researching, and long nights talking, we are pleased to announce that we are raising organically grown flowers here in southern california. we look forward to taking our blooms to our favorite farmer's market, providing floral designers with fresh, high quality flowers, and offering our bouquets to our local subscription program clients. we might even be hosting a few pop-up shops in the near future!

so if you would like to stay up to date, hear about what blooms are going to be growing and made available, receive updates about where you can purchase our flowers, request more information about our flowers, or just want to say hi, please feel free to send us an email. you can also sign up for our newsletter via the form at the bottom of this page if you want to receive automatic email updates.

the first harvested trial dahlia, grown in the balcony garden

p.s. - i'll be working on improving the photo quality of our updates and posts so you can expect to see pretty, colorful images very soon. =)