Re: Dahlia imperialis

Laura,

It shouldn't be all that hard to find, or your local
retail nursery ought to be able to order it for you,
as there are several wholesale nurseries that grow
this, including San Marcos Growers in Goleta, and
Suncrest Nurseries in Watsonville.  It is certainly
not a drought tolerant plant, and needs regular garden
water to look its best.  It will also be very prone to
wind and/or early fall rain damage as it gets skyward,
so it really is best where planted in the protection
of a building courtyard or sheltered by surrounding
large trees.  I also find it best to situate this
where you will see the blooms, as they will face south
or west to maximize sun exposure, and you may find a
better view from your neighbor's yard if you don't
keep this in mind.  Late fall winds such as your Santa
Ana's can do real damage to the plants right before
they are getting ready to bloom in late
October/November.

I have several in my garden that did mostly survive
the most recent gale force winds, but they were
certainly looking better a week ago.  There is another
species called D. tenuicaulis, which has deeper
purple/magenta flowers on a shorter stalk over a
longer bloom season, maxing out a 10~12 feet tall
rather than 20.  My D. imperialis get about 18 feet
tall and have hundreds of flowers at one time, keeping
the honey bees very busy at this season.  Dahlia
imperialis also combines nicely with the Giant Tree
Daisy/Montanoa grandiflora, which is of equal height
and vigor, and also in full bloom right now.  I also
have a large 12 foot tall Tibouchina granulosa in full
bloom adjacent the Tree Dahlia, and the lavender pink
blooms of each complement each other this time of
year.  All of these subtropical species are a nice
send off to fall, and look even better where you don't
get heavy winds and early fall rains.(Tibouchina
handles the wind and rain much better, as the branches
are less weighted down with sodden flowers).

All of the Tree Dahlias are extremely easy to root
from cuttings of woody trunk with at least 2 leaf
nodes, so if you see some in the neigborhood, it
wouldn't hurt to ask for some...



--- nick & laura <coopertaggart@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Any leads on where the rest of us can order this
> intriguing plant ?
> Laura
> Los Angeles


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