- Croydens Masterpiece
Although I’ve visited many exceptional dahlia gardens, the photo gallery below is about the dahlia that turned me into a (rank novice) grower, Croyden’s Masterpiece. Years ago, I started with a mixed bag from a Michigan grower, because my main reason was to have some tubers to show as I talked to garden clubs about the dahlia gardens that I’d visited in France. Spring came and I stuck the tubers in here and there, with poor success. Croyden’s Masterpiece, however, bloomed long enough and beautifully enough that I was hooked. Toward the end of the season, the plants that looked healthy one day wilted and died the next. I have come to understand that too much nitrogen can cause weak stems and rotted tubers and I now suspect this was the cause.
However, the urge sort of simmered in my heart for a few years in spite of my failures. With my full time job, it’s hard to get away to see dahlias in public gardens and I missed them. After success with a container dahlia, Art Deco, I decided last year to try growing dahlias again. This time in a small dedicated dahlia bed. Because the bed was small, Croyden’s Masterpiece was planted in the front of the nearby rose bed that I keep richly fertilized, and the plants never did well. I got a few blossoms that I thoroughly enjoyed but the color was weak and they were never the size they should be. The tubers may also have been planted too shallowly; they didn’t look good when I dug them. With all that, I decided to purchase new tubers for this year. Properly planted in the dedicated dahlia bed, I think you will agree that I have my reward.
You may ask about it’s true color and all I can tell you is that these photos are true. While it’s classified as an orange variety, it really does vary that much depending on the light and the age of the petals. The last shot probably shows that variation the best. It’s like watching a slow motion sunset.[oqeygallery id=32]