Dave Gillam reveals his pick of the best dahlias for 2018
Here’s my pick of the latest varieties for your garden or the show bench
Last year I saw some very nice miniatures and one that caught my eye was ‘Ryecroft Misty’, raised by Phil Godsmark and released by Halls of Heddon. This very neat miniature decorative has crisply formed, white blooms with a light lavender flush. It’s not the biggest of miniatures and needs growing about eight flowers to the plant. Another one that stood out for me was ‘Westerton Ella Grace’, raised by Gordon Hodgson and named after David Hall’s niece. It’s a strong grower and weatherproof, but being a bit taller than average it needs good support. It’s also a really pretty flower for the garden or show bench. From the well known Barbarry stable there’s
‘Barbarry Star’. This well-formed miniature ball in lemon yellow will be sure to find its way into many exhibitors’ gardens and has the usual low, stronggrowing habits we find from its raiser Barry Davies.
There was one pom last year that will be with us for years to come. ‘Jon’s
Twilight’ is a yellow sport of ‘Gurtla Twilight’ and is one of the best pompons we have. It comes from Andrew Aspital and is named after his son and helper at the shows Jon. It was shown by Andrew in the best vase in show at the National, proving its class already. This should be available for 2019.
Raised by John Willott and released by Halls of Heddon, ‘Normandie
Frills’ is a medium fim (fimbriata or fringed) that’s quite weather resistant, with a compact habit and good-sized blooms. Its feathered-tipped flowers will appeal to many. ‘Josudi Neptune’ is a miniature semi-cactus and a great garden variety. In David Hall’s words, “it fades a little bit when a little old, but so bright, colourful and cheery, who cares!” It has plenty of petals and lasts well when cut.
Leeds exhibition trials 2017
These trials are held in Golden Acre Park at Bramhope, near Leeds, by kind permission of Leeds City Council. There were 36 varieties submitted last year, and the general standard was very good. The overall winner received the Harry Howarth Memorial Medal plus the Gold
Award. This was ‘Josudi Aurora’, a red and yellow blended miniature semicactus raised by the late Peter Greenway of Falmouth. This prolific variety will be available from Halls of Heddon. All the blooms were of good exhibition quality and were held on strong stems. The Silver Award was given to ‘Grace Wood’, raised by Derek Cave of Barlestone. This is a lavender-pink, medium semicactus with excellent blooms. All the blooms were exhibition worthy and held at a very good angle. Three Bronze Awards were made: ‘Rosemary Dawn’, a large pom; ‘Josudi Andromeda’, a miniature cactus, and ‘Spennithorne Georgia Mei’, a medium semi-cactus. The committee will be glad to receive nominations for the 2018 trials at Leeds, and these should be with the organiser Mike Cunningham well before May 1, 2018. Forms will be available on the NDS website (www.dahlia-nds.co.uk) and Mike can be contacted at mhlc@ blueyonder.co.uk or via the NDS website.