Bay Dahlias

29/03/2025

30th March Papamoa Community Market

29/03/2025

Every year seems to have different battles. You loose some , you win some. This year’s summer is no different. We are battling with higher temperatures, drier conditions, more powdery mildew and spider mites . However i am still grateful for all the beautiful harvest this season. We had a good run to start with and it has been the best since we started Bay Dahlias. We are truly grateful for everyone’s patronage and couldn’t grow this business without each and everyone’s support. Thank you .
The flower season is finally over for us. We are still open for a few orders, slim picking the best of the last blooms but I will not be having a stall for tomorrow’s market.
We will have a few bunches to sell and house at the food stall “kusinero”, so leave a message / DM if you need me to reserve market bouquets . We will try our best to serve whatever is left in the farm.

Pictures above are some of the late bloomers for this season.
Polventon Kristobel
Acacia Mark
Sylvia Craig Hunter
Westerton Pearl
Prestige
Avoca Amanda

It has been a great season. Can’t wait to start planning for tuber sale and tuber division workshop.
No specific dates on the latter but we will post the dates once everything is in order.

21/03/2025

Thank you and for dropping by this morning and grabbing bespoke bouquets. I keep saying that my season is finally over but you guys gave me thoughts to ponder. Getting fresh eyes, seeing from your perspective is not just inspiring but motivating to keep pushing until it is truly finally over. Have a wonderful weekend you beautiful people!

18/03/2025

Update on the 2nd seedling patch. Excited to get these seedlings growing in the main garden side by side with named varieties.

17/03/2025

Some of the garden scenes to enjoy :)
I wanted to make a long post but no, not this time.
Just sharing beautiful moments before finishing off the season.

17/03/2025

Following the bloom colour change from this 1st year seedling makes me so excited! I’m over the moon!
Imagine having multiple flowers in different bloom phase in one plant, that would be fab!

15/03/2025

Probably the last harvest of the season.The days are shorter, cold mornings are felt and leaves are turning red and too soon leaves are falling. Can’t believe it’s autumn! Although the bloom season will be over, yet more farm work is about to come. For those wanting to get better tuber production, dead heading is a must, don’t let dahlias get to form seeds so their energy will be focus on tuber production. However; those that want to grow from seeds, now is the best time to check and collect some seed pods.

Pic above is the harvest for tomorrow, 16th March- come early as bunches sells quick! See you guys :)

12/03/2025

Discovering these seedlings feels like hitting the jackpot prize of a lottery. The main garden has been totally heat exhausted and in a week’s time, I think I am finishing my season; however these later planted seedlings are just about to show their beautiful blooms.

For those wondering about seedlings. Due to a complex genes, seed grown dahlias don’t grow true to the mother plant. In fact less than 5% of the seed grown dahlias will qualify for criteria of a standard dahlia. All the blooms in this post are sister seedlings yet they don’t look similar and have different colours and size.

It takes 3-4 years to get a proper assessment and determine the stability of its characteristics such as colour, form and petal count. It is a rewarding process for those who have the passion for raising seedlings. However it is time consuming and takes alot of garden space to grow a number to get a good result.

07/03/2025

I love micro gardening, in fact I’v always been big fan of converting lawns to a more productive garden spaces.
When we move into this property i intent to use this area as a low maintenance grass and pollinator garden. However I noticed that no one is growing dahlias in this neighbourhood thus it’s easy for me to decide to convert this into a dahlia garden for hybridising; as it will be isolated enough for open pollination. Next season’s seedlings will be all from these dahlias and can’t wait to see the result.

06/03/2025

It’s a privilege to be able to rediscover treasures from the past. This 1960’s beauty is called Pat Ericson and I am forever grateful to Aimee Morison for sharing this heritage dahlia. From 1 tuber, i managed to get a few cuttings and grew 6 plants of tall, prolific and an almost statuesque variety. Standing proud and perfect for the back of the border, this is a great landscape plant.
In 1969, this medium decorative became the champion bloom at the national dahlia show.

24/02/2025

Hey Dahlia friends!

We are taking a break until March 8, 2025.
Apologies we will not take any orders until 9th of March. This means we won’t be having a Sunday market too this weekend. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Picture is a combo of Molly Raven and ‘s Arch Crerar. What an amazing combo right?

22/02/2025

Papamoa Community Market Feb 23 ‘25

21/02/2025

20/02/2025

18/02/2025

Here’s the information for those wanting to enter the dahlia show this coming Saturday. I encourage all new growers to participate even just for fun sake. It will foster a whole lot of learning for growing beautiful dahlias; not to mention meeting experienced growers who can give some tips and tricks during the show date.

18/02/2025

Home Garden Update