Stock book · dahlias, seeds and bulbs
What we have,
and what we want
- 173dahlia cultivars
- 26seed packets
- 172bulbs
- 42on the wish list
What we got, and from who
48 bags · 35 new cultivars
Twenty-seven bags came home. Five of them are second tubers of plants already in the collection, so the count moves from 135 to 157, not to 162. Ten bags carry purple stickers or handwriting and no stall name, so they sit together until we work out where they came from.
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Stace Hamiltongift · 12 tagged · 7 new
Maya, Pink Sylvia, Labyrinth, Melody Allegro, Gypsy Night, Salmon Runner, Melody Fox are new, and Labyrinth comes off the wish list. Copper Boy, Coralie, Prins Carnaval, Penhil Dark Monarch and Melody Dora we already have or have due, so those are second tubers. Several untagged tubers came with them and are not counted.
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Shelley Mehan2 bags · 2 new
Hamilton Lillian, Hatton Peachy. Hatton Peachy has no listing anywhere, so it needs a photo when it flowers.
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Gweneth Taylor29 September · 5 bags · 3 new
Small World, Double Jill, Zippity Do Dah are new, and Small World and Double Jill come off the wish list. Lifestyle and Milena Fleur we already have, so those are second tubers.
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Blooming Dahlias NZonline sale · Friday
DJ Blush Hunny, Iced Tea.
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Janelle Gopperthordered ahead
Caitlins Joy, Isobel, Snoho Jojo.
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Stall 3 Bay Dahlias8 bags · 6 new
Ida Mae, Koko Puff, Pink Pearl, Polka, Rural Rebecca, Sebastian are new. Caitlins Joy and Isabel we already have, so those are second tubers — and Caitlins Joy finally has a recorded source.
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Stall 5 Chaos Blooms3 bags · 3 new
Brown Sugar, My Love, Sweet Sanne. Brown Sugar and My Love came off the wish list. Sweet Sanne is not Sweet Suzanne, which is still wanted.
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Maxwelton’s Valley Blooms1 bag · 1 new
Mrs Ooh La La, plus the seed packets. Probably MW’s Ooh La La under a shortened name.
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The Rural Florist9 bags · 9 new · not confirmed
Blondee, Bob, Boom Boom White, Franz Kafka, Genova, Molly Raven, Rocco, Who Me, Wittem. Purple stickers and handwritten bags, no stall name on them, put here on recollection rather than a receipt. Blondee we already have from Formosa GH, so that is a second tuber. Molly Raven and Boom Boom White came off the wish list. Bob still has no listing anywhere, so it needs a photo when it flowers.
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The Warehouse6 bags · 4 new · Fiesta packets
Fubuki Fuzzy Wuzzy, Inca, Le Castel, Richards Fortune are new. Sharnis Surprise and Ryan C. were already bought locally on the same Fiesta packets, so those are second tubers.
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Mitre 1019 and 22 September · 3 bags · 2 new
Maroon Fox is new and comes off the wish list. Sweet Love followed on the 22nd. Lilac Bull is already due from Bulbs Direct, so that one was returned.
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Off the wish list6
Molly Raven, Brown Sugar, My Love, Boom Boom White, Kokopuff at Mount Maunganui, then Maroon Fox at Mitre 10. Isabel was already in the collection rather than on the wish list, so it does not come off it.
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Still not seengrowers at the sale
Nothing recorded from The Penny Farms, Pears & Peonies or Organika Floral. Fluffles, Joal Kaitlin, Romance, Grayval Gem and Chaos Blooms Pavlova all stay on the list.
Already have
173 · no doubling up
Every dahlia in the collection, A to Z, including the ones still due. Updated 29 September, after the Gweneth Taylor tubers. Full entries further down.
- Alain Mimoun
- Alauna Clair Obscur
- Ambition
- Aporo Road Strawberry
- Arabian Night
- Bantling
- Black Jack
- Blitzer
- Blondee
- Blue Bayou
- Blyton Softer Gleam
- Bob
- Boom Boom White
- Bracken Ballerina
- Bracken Palamino
- Bride to Be
- Brown Sugar
- Butterscotch
- Cabana Banana
- Café au Lait Rose
- Café au Lait Royal
- Café au Lait Twist
- Café, unidentified
- Caitlins Joy
- Chilson’s Pride
- Colour Spectacle
- Copper Boy
- Coralie
- Cornel Bronze
- Crazy Legs
- Crème de Cognac
- Crève Coeur
- Daisy Duke
- David Howard
- DJ Blush Hunny
- Double Jill
- Embrace
- England’s Glory
- Eveline
- Fired Up
- Firepot
- Franz Kafka
- Frost Nip
- Fubuki Dark
- Fubuki Fuzzy Wuzzy
- Genova
- Gerrie Hoek
- Gingersnap
- Glorie van Heemstede
- Golden Scepter
- Gosia Pastello
- Great Hercules
- Great Silence
- Gypsy Night
- Hamilton Lillian
- Hatton Peachy
- Iced Tea
- Ida Mae
- Impression Famoso
- Inca
- Irish Pinwheel
- Isabel
- Ivanetti
- Joel’s Favourite
- Jowey Winnie
- Kaiwera Gold
- Karma Chocolate
- Karras
- Keith Hammond
- Kogane Fubuki
- Koko Puff
- L.A.T.E.
- La Recoleta
- Labyrinth
- Lake Carey
- Le Castel
- Lifestyle
- Lilac Bull
- Linda’s Baby
- Lipoma
- Little Robert
- Lizz Baaij
- Lucky Number
- Mambo
- Manhattan Island
- Maroon Fox
- Maya
- Melody
- Melody Allegro
- Melody Dora
- Melody Fox
- Melody Gipsy
- Milena Fleur
- Missis Dutch
- Molly Raven
- Mrs Ooh La La
- Mums Special
- My Love
- Myrtle’s Folly
- Nadia Ruth
- Natal
- Nicholas
- Northlake Pride
- Octopus Sparkle
- Omega
- Orange Perception
- Otto’s Thrill
- Pacific Ocean
- Pale pink cactus
- Pam Howden
- Paradise
- Park Princess
- Peach cactus
- Peaches n Cream
- Penhil Dark Monarch
- Penhil Watermelon
- Petra’s Wedding
- Philip Campos
- Pineland Princess
- Pink Ballerina
- Pink fimbriated
- Pink Gingham
- Pink Pearl
- Pink Perception
- Pink Sylvia
- Polka
- Poodle Skirt
- Pooh
- Priceless Pink
- Prins Carnaval
- Procyon
- Que Sera
- Red Cardinal
- Richards Fortune
- Rocco
- Rosemary Webb
- Rural Rebecca
- Ryan C.
- Saint Martin
- Sakura Fubuki
- Salmon Runner
- Sebastian
- Seduction
- Shadow Cat
- Shaggy Chic
- Sharnis Surprise
- Shooting Star
- Show n Tell
- Small World
- Snoho Jojo
- Snowflake
- Spassmacher
- Sweet Love
- Sweet Sanne
- Table Dancer
- Taiheijo
- Teddy
- Thumb Print
- Torsade
- Totally Tangerine
- Tsuki-Yori-No-Shisha
- Twyning’s Smartie
- Uncle Hanky
- Urchin
- Verrone’s Obsidian
- Viking
- Westerton Lillian
- White waterlily, unidentified
- Who Me
- Wine Eyed Jill
- Wittem
- Yelno Harmony
- Zippity Do Dah
Ask every breeder for
42 on the wish list
Top of the list
- Crushed Velvet
- Grayval Gem
The rest of the wish list
- Amber Queen
- Angels of 7A
- Belle of Barmera
- Cameo
- Chaos Blooms Pavlova
- Charlie Dimmock
- Crème de Cassis
- Crème Silence
- Dark Spirit
- Edwin’s Sunset
- Fluffles
- Gwyneth
- Hapet Perfect
- Holly Huston
- JCs Afterglow
- Joal Kaitlin
- Karma Lagoon
- Keith Hammett
- Lauren Michelle
- Meadowlea
- New Baby
- PG Wodehouse
- Platinum Blonde
- Portofino
- Purple Taiheijo
- Radegast
- Rancho
- Romance
- Sandia Rose
- Silver Years
- Snow Cap
- Sweet Suzanne
- Sylvia Craig Hunter
- Tanita
- Taratahi Ruby
- Taratahi Sunrise
- Thomas Edison
- Time Changer
- Twiggy
- White Ballerina
Also asking about
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A clean white with good stems
Less urgent now. Boom Boom White, My Love, Le Castel and Wittem all landed today, so the whites are fifteen and no longer all blush and small.
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Dark foliage
David Howard and now Molly Raven, which has near-black leaves and dark purple stems. Still worth asking for more.
If a named stall above has sold out of something, it goes back on this list for the other tables.
Dahlias
173 cultivars by colour
Grouped by colour so the gaps show, and within each colour ordered by flower form from the smallest blooms to the largest. Each plant sits under the colour it reads as from a few paces, not every tint in the bloom. Striped and variegated ones sit under their dominant colour rather than in a group of their own. Anything bought without a description sits at the bottom under colour not yet known until it flowers.
White & cream 16
Sixteen. Five arrived from Mount Maunganui and Small World came from Gweneth Taylor, so the gap is closed.
Small World 1
Pompom. Pure white, sometimes with a faint blush or lilac touch, in tight little balls around 3 to 5cm. 90 to 120cm. Dutch, introduced 1976. Floret rate it the best white dahlia they grow, and it keeps producing as long as it is cut. Off the wish list. Gweneth Taylor.
Snowflake 3
Pompom. Ivory white turning creamier at the centre, many neat rows of tightly inrolled petals. Bloom size is disputed — RHS say 5cm, NZ Bulbs and Bulbs Direct say 10cm. 80cm and compact, so it suits borders and pots as well as picking. Three tubers in the pack. The white we had nothing of in this form. Kiwi Garden, The Warehouse.
Petra’s Wedding 1
Ball. Clean white to creamy ivory, neatly rolled petals. 5 to 8cm blooms at 70 to 90cm. Listed as pom pom in the heading and ball in the specs, so small either way. Bulbs Direct, order 242276. Arrived.
yet
Genova 1
Ball. Compact ball of about 7 to 8cm on a short 70cm plant, white striped and checkered through with lilac-purple, the marking different on every bloom. Files here on the white base rather than with the mauves. The shortest ball in the collection and the only front-of-border one. Purple sticker, most likely The Rural Florist though not confirmed.
yet
Boom Boom White 1
Ball. Creamy white true ball, 8 to 10cm, on thick strong stems at 90 to 110cm. Bred by H.A. van Eeuwijk in the Boom Boom line. Early, heavy and long in the vase, which is why it is a standing wedding flower. Some growers report a blush centre developing late in the season. Off the wish list. Purple sticker, most likely The Rural Florist though not confirmed.
Bride to Be due
Waterlily. White. Davey Gardens, order 12313 — placed, subject to payment.
yet
White waterlily — unidentified due
Waterlily. Cultivar unknown, the tuber marked only white. Bought from Myfanwy Gurr, arrived by post wrapped in newspaper with no labelling. Worth photographing when it opens — the whites in the NZ waterlily catalogues are Bride to Be, Cameo and White Ballerina.
yet
Le Castel 1
Waterlily. Neat white waterlily to 15cm on dark stems, flushing faintly pink as the bloom ages, soft yellow heart. Australian, 1971, and an award winner. 120cm. The Warehouse, Fiesta packet.
Chilson’s Pride due
Decorative. 1954 heirloom. Pastel ombré from a creamy centre out to true pink, slightly fimbriated petals, 10cm blooms at 150cm. Long strong stems and, by several accounts, the longest vase life in the patch. An excellent tuber producer and a blender rather than a feature. Some growers report it coming through white with no pink at all. Jenny Clarke, paid.
Lake Carey due
Decorative. Creamy white to soft lemon, broad rounded petals. From the grower, swapped in for Banana Cabana.
yet
Wittem 1
Decorative. White brushed with an uneven soft lilac-pink, different on every flower, 12 to 15cm at 100 to 120cm. Bred by Bruidegom in the Netherlands, 1970. Sits close to Who Me on colour but the plant is half the height. Purple sticker, most likely The Rural Florist though not confirmed.
Nadia Ruth 1
Laciniated & fringed. Pale blush, near white at the edges. NZ Bulbs, order 11W53C7HH021.
Karras due
Cactus & semi-cactus. Clean white with a soft lemon flush through the heart, long narrow rays rolled almost to needles and radiating out flat. A big open star of a flower. NZ Bulbs, order 20260607133, pre-order.
Pale pink cactus 1
Cactus & semi-cactus. Blush white washed lilac, long rolled quills. Unnamed, and very close to Nadia Ruth. Gifted box from the local grower.
Tsuki-Yori-No-Shisha 1
Cactus & semi-cactus. Creamy-white fringed blooms of 15 to 20cm, twisted petals, sea-anemone-like in shape. 90 to 110cm. Bulbs Direct call it one of the best fimbriated dahlias around and file it under cactus. The name means messenger from the moon. Bulbs Direct, order 243045. Arrived.
yet
My Love 1
Cactus & semi-cactus. Creamy white semi-cactus with a greenish-yellow heart, long petals rolled and curling at the tips, 12 to 15cm at 120cm. Reads as a spiked snowball. Off the wish list. Chaos Blooms.
Yellow & gold 12
Twelve, unchanged. Nothing yellow came home from the sale.
Golden Scepter 1
Pompom. Golden yellow deepening to orange-yellow at the centre, tubular incurving petals in a tidy 5 to 7cm sphere. Dutch, hybridised 1926, so an heirloom. Height reports vary widely, 80cm to 120cm. Blooms sit well above the foliage, which is what makes it a cutting favourite. Our first pompom and the clean yellow the collection lacked. Kiwi Garden, The Warehouse.
Gosia Pastello 1
Ball. Soft lemon-cream with a warm apricot-peach flush through the centre, petals rolled into neat scoops in a tight globe. Sellers describe a pink picotee edge, which does not show on every bloom. Southern Highlands Flower Farm call it ball-shaped and the photo backs them. Bred by Dahlia Hills in Australia from their own seed — Gosia is their prefix for their own seedlings, so this is a small-breeder release rather than a commercial cultivar. The only picotee edge in the collection. Donated.
Irish Pinwheel 1
Stellar. Pointed petals of butter yellow tipped cherry red, 10 to 15cm blooms on tall strong stems, 90 to 110cm. Bulbs Direct file it as decorative rather than stellar. Bulbs Direct, order 242276. Arrived.
Gingersnap due
Waterlily. Rich gold caramel. Davey Gardens, order 12313 — placed, subject to payment.
Glorie van Heemstede due
Waterlily. Clear yellow. Exhibition cultivar and one of the old benchmarks. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Keith Hammond due
Decorative. Gold to apricot, broad rounded petals. From the grower.
Westerton Lillian due
Decorative. Informal decorative. Pale lemon-cream, near white at the outer edges, with the inner petals rolled into tight quills round a soft blush-pink centre. 15 to 20cm blooms at 180cm — the tallest plant in the collection. Gordon Hodgson, UK, 2014. Growers keep calling it lemon meringue pie. The soft yellow the collection lacked. Jenny Clarke, paid.
Kaiwera Gold due
Laciniated & fringed. Rich gold to peach with finely lacerated petals and apricot flushing the centre. NZ bred, named for Kaiwera in Southland. Exhibition classified and very tough. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Blondee due
Cactus & semi-cactus. Soft butter yellow paling to cream at the tips, big and shaggy. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Cabana Banana 2
Cactus & semi-cactus. Yellow through the throat, pink at the tips. One from NZ Bulbs, order 11W53C7HH021, and a second came in the gifted box labelled Banana Cabana.
Shooting Star 1
Cactus & semi-cactus. Long narrow rays in creamy lemon paling to white at the tips, deeper yellow through the centre, and the younger blooms open apricot-orange before fading. Up to 130cm. Reads much softer than the yellow-and-violet the UK catalogues describe. Gift from Formosa GH with the L03 order.
Spassmacher due
Cactus & semi-cactus. Lemon yellow, coral flushing the tips. Semi-cactus. From the grower.
Apricot, peach & orange 26
Twenty-six. The founding palette and still the deepest.
Bantling 1
Pompom. Orange-bronze. Seventh pompom, and the only one in that colour. Bulbs Direct, order 244187. Arrived.
Blitzer 1
Ball. Warm coral-orange, petals rolled into neat scoops and stacked in a tight sphere, deeper red-orange through the centre. A prolific bloomer by the look of the plant. Bulbs Direct, order 243045. Arrived.
Blyton Softer Gleam ?
Ball. Soft peach. Source not recorded.
Bracken Palamino ?
Ball. Apricot-orange. Bracken Ridge, Brisbane. Source not recorded.
Cornel Bronze ?
Ball. Bronze-apricot. Sport of Cornel. Source not recorded.
L.A.T.E. due
Ball. Soft peach and apricot over cream, warming to coral where the light catches, with a small lime-green eye at the centre. Neat rolled petals in a tight globe. Heavily productive by the look of the bunch. Piako Botanicals.
Snoho Jojo 2
Ball. Peachy bronze-pink shifting through coral and mauve as the season goes on. 7 to 10cm spherical blooms, 90 to 135cm. Bill Bonneywell, 1990. Blenheim seller, arrived. A second ordered from Janelle Gopperth.
yet
Brown Sugar 1
Ball. Rusty red-brown ball of 10cm at 110cm, the lower petals softening to warm terracotta as the bloom ages, darker through the centre. Bulbs Direct call it reddish-brown, Floret call it rusty red-orange, so it may end up reading closer to the reds than to this group. Sits with Cornel Bronze on the bronze end. Off the wish list. Chaos Blooms.
Butterscotch due
Collarette. Eight broad butterscotch-gold outer rays round a collar of shorter coral-pink petaloids and a gold-studded bronze disc. Dark stems. 10cm blooms at 90cm. Fully open centre, so a bee flower. A Keith Hammett selection. NZ Bulbs, order 20260607133, pre-order.
Octopus Sparkle 1
Anemone. Slender orange-red petals stretching out like star rays round a filled orange-yellow heart. 10cm blooms at 100 to 120cm. Bulbs Direct, order 242276. Arrived.
Totally Tangerine due
Anemone. Tangerine petals with rose-pink on the reverse, round a rust-orange pincushion. 7 to 10cm at 90cm, compact and prolific. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Bracken Ballerina due
Waterlily. Pink. Registered 2004, N.W. Nauman, Bracken Ridge, Brisbane. Same prefix as our Bracken Palamino. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Crème de Cognac due
Waterlily. Peachy petals highlighted in scarlet, cranberry on the backs, 10 to 15cm. Form disputed — Davey and White Flower Farm call it waterlily, Floret, Bulbs Direct and The Wildstyler call it informal decorative. Off the wish list. Harmony Gaw.
Orange Perception 1
Waterlily. Soft orange and warm apricot finished with ivory-white tips, flatter rounded petals giving an open shape. 9 to 10cm blooms, 110 to 120cm, so one of the tallest in the collection. Tall, productive and excellent stems for picking. Same series and form as Pink Perception. Bulbs Direct, order 243045. Arrived.
Teddy due
Waterlily. Dark orange, garden display. Davey Gardens, order 12313 — placed, subject to payment.
Yelno Harmony due
Waterlily. Soft peach-apricot with a coral-red centre still furled, broad rounded petals in neat overlapping rows. 6 to 10cm at 90 to 120cm. Dutch, introduced by Van Noort in the 1960s. Bought as a big clump, so it should divide into several tubers. Harmony Gaw.
David Howard due
Decorative. Apricot-orange petals paling to buff at the edges over a deep burnt-orange centre, held in tight symmetrical rows. Dark bronze-purple foliage — the only coloured foliage in the collection. RHS Award of Garden Merit. Hollie Beattie.
Firepot due
Decorative. Warm yellow running out to orange. Form not confirmed. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Double Jill 1
Decorative. Yellow, white, apricot and pink blended so no two blooms match, quilled inner petals round a tight peachy heart. 8cm blooms at 90 to 120cm. Runs more orange early in the season and more yellow later. Growers call it the flower that ties an arrangement together. Joins the unstable-marking group with Prins Carnaval and Saint Martin. Off the wish list. Gweneth Taylor.
yet
Hamilton Lillian 1
Decorative. Formal decorative, bronze tinged pink, reading apricot from a few paces, with neat pointed petals. 10 to 13cm blooms at 1 to 1.2m. A shorter plant that gives long, strong stems if pinched early. Floret call it one of the prettiest in this colour family. Not the same plant as Westerton Lillian. Shelley Mehan.
Lifestyle 2
Decorative. Apricot-orange and gold through the heart running out to pink at the tips, with narrow yellow edging on almost every petal and red flecking through the centre. Densely packed and large. One of the busiest flowers in the collection — four colours in a single bloom. Gift from Formosa GH with the L03 order, and a second tuber from Gweneth Taylor.
Peaches n Cream due
Decorative. Formal decorative, 10cm blooms at 110cm. Hybridised 1994 by R.J. Muntjewerff, Netherlands. Not the same plant as Peaches and Cream. Off the wish list — Mama Bloom were sold out. Harmony Gaw.
Kogane Fubuki 1
Laciniated & fringed. Apricot, densely packed. Japanese Fubuki group. NZ Bulbs, order 11W53C7HH021.
Philip Campos due
Cactus & semi-cactus. Peach-apricot, pointed quills tipped cream, coral through the centre. Big bloom. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Great Hercules due
Large informal decorative (dinnerplate). Bronzed orange with hints of apricot and pink, 20cm blooms at 90 to 120cm. Cut from an earlier Bulbs Direct cart and bought here instead. Piako Botanicals.
yet
Joel’s Favourite 1
Large informal decorative (dinnerplate). Palest peach blushed pink, the inner petals heavily washed with rose, big blooms to 20cm at about 110cm. Dutch, 2021, named by a grower called Joel at Magnolia in Sweden. Sold overseas as a bridal dahlia and closes up in the evening to look like a peony. Sits on the peach-pink border and could file under pink. In the RHS trial 2023 to 2024. Source not recorded.
Coral & salmon 20
Twenty. Overlaps heavily with apricot.
Labyrinth 1
Large informal decorative (dinnerplate). Peachy-pink with a dusky rose reverse, petals swirled and unruly. A wedding-work favourite. The tag reads 2 Tone Labyrinth, filed here as Labyrinth until it flowers. Off the wish list. Gift from Stace Hamilton.
Daisy Duke 1
Ball. Coral pink with a mauve contrasting centre and a green eye. Shorter plant, needs pinching early for stem length. Blenheim seller. Arrived.
Jowey Winnie due
Ball. Ball, 10 to 11cm at 90 to 120cm. Smoky mauve-pink with peach and coral through it and a touch of plum at the centre, and growers describe an iridescent quality that shifts through the season. Bred by Jozef Weyts in Belgium. Very strong stems, long vase life, and it produces without a lull all season. Needs staking early or it flops. Piako Botanicals.
Linda’s Baby 1
Ball. Warm pink and peach with a hint of purple in the centre. 50 to 100mm balls. Blenheim seller. Arrived.
Crazy Legs 1
Stellar. Star-shaped, raspberry and gold, petals curling into a quill-like look. 10cm blooms at 100 to 110cm. Bulbs Direct file it as decorative rather than stellar. Bulbs Direct, order 242276. Arrived.
Nicholas 1
Waterlily. Peach at the petal tips running to rusty crimson at the heart. 90 to 100cm, strong stems. Bulbs Direct file it as decorative, Triple Wren as a large waterlily, so the form is uncertain. Bulbs Direct, order 242276. Arrived.
Pam Howden due
Waterlily. Gar Davidson, Australia, 1995. Yellow base, peach tips, raspberry on the petal backs. 1.6m. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Rosemary Webb due
Waterlily. Pale blush pink with lilac at the petal edges over a buttercup-yellow heart, broad petals held shallow and open. Softer and more layered than most waterlilies. Jenny Clarke, paid.
yet
Milena Fleur 2
Waterlily. Muted salmon-pink running into pale yellow at the centre, with a gold sheen growers keep mentioning, 10cm blooms. Sold as waterlily by most, formal decorative by some. Compact, 60 to 75cm by most accounts though one grower reports it tall. Strong straight stems, heavy cropper, 5 to 6 days in the vase. Bred by Peter Komen. Source of the first tuber not recorded; the second came from Gweneth Taylor.
Iced Tea 1
Decorative. Formal decorative. Raspberry-coral blending to amber-peach, the colour deepening as autumn cools. Mostly 8 to 10cm blooms, one grower lists 14cm, at 1 to 1.2m. Compact plants, long stems. Blooming Dahlias NZ, order 10111. Arrived.
Coralie 1 +1 due
Decorative. 12cm blooms, 120cm. Off the wish list — Mama Bloom were sold out. One from Stace Hamilton in hand, another still due from Jenny Clarke.
Great Silence 1
Decorative. Rose pink and gold together, reading as peachy salmon. 100 to 130mm on long dark stems. Peter Komen, 2018. Blenheim seller. Arrived.
Melody Dora 2
Decorative. Pink-salmon fading to orange-yellow at the heart, 12cm blooms. At 20 to 50cm it is the only compact plant in the whole collection. Bulbs Direct, order 242276. Arrived. A second from Stace Hamilton.
yet
Sebastian 1
Decorative. Soft gradient of salmon, pink, peach and yellow through a 9cm decorative bloom at 100cm. One NZ grower calls it their top performer for the season, smothered in flowers with a tight centre and strong stems. Bay Dahlias.
yet
Salmon Runner 1
Decorative. Formal decorative, salmon-coral with a warmer apricot centre, neat regular petals. Gift from Stace Hamilton.
Myrtle’s Folly due
Laciniated & fringed. Heavily laciniated with a fuzzy, fireworks look. An ombré running peachy-salmon to raspberry-mauve, and sellers name every colour from pale yellow through coral to plum in the same bloom. 13 to 20cm depending who you ask, 90 to 120cm. Hybridised by the late Richard Bloomfield and named for his wife. Exhibition class A. Petals drop readily unless handled well after cutting. Piako Botanicals.
Colour Spectacle due
Cactus & semi-cactus. Coral-salmon, long pointed quills with white tips, deeper rose through the centre. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Embrace due
Cactus & semi-cactus. Small pink-orange cactus flowers, 1m tall and 40cm across. Bred for exhibition. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Peach cactus due
Cactus & semi-cactus. Coral-pink, long rolled quills. Unnamed. From the grower.
Show n Tell due
Cactus & semi-cactus. Scarlet-coral quills tipped and centred gold. Big and spiky. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Pink 46
Forty-six, counting the pink-striped, marbled and peppermint ones. Much the largest block by far, and the one to stop buying into.
Lipoma 1
Pompom. Bright pink, tightly curled petals in an almost perfect sphere. 5 to 10cm at 70 to 90cm, long stems for picking. Bulbs Direct, order 243045. Arrived.
Little Robert 1
Pompom. Pink flushed petals with a white base. Masses of small blooms on long strong stems, 5 to 10cm at 80 to 90cm. Bulbs Direct, order 243045. Arrived.
Caitlins Joy ?
Ball. Deep raspberry pink. Source not recorded. A further tuber ordered from Janelle Gopperth.
Uncle Hanky 1
Ball. Deep magenta-pink petals with clean white bases and tips, tightly and evenly stacked. Formosa marked it 100/10 on their sheet. Gift from Formosa GH with the L03 order.
Isabel due
Ball. Dusty rose pink with a lavender cast, petals rolled into neat scoops. A Cornel sport, the same plant line as Cornel Bronze and Ivanetti. Sold as Isobel. Janelle Gopperth.
yet
Pink Pearl 1
Ball. One of the largest balls going, 10 to 12cm and heavily petalled, at about 120cm. Colour runs from baby pink through blush to nearly white and shifts across the season. Growers warn it shows an eye and throws short crotchy stems unless you cut deep. Bay Dahlias.
yet
Pink Sylvia 1
Ball. Clear mid-pink balls, tightly rolled petals. Also sold as Sandra in the US. Gift from Stace Hamilton.
yet
Inca 1
Anemone. Anemone with a dense textured centre, warm pink through to raspberry-red, some blooms opening blush and others deepening to coral. Compact at 60 to 80cm. The Warehouse, Fiesta packet.
yet
Polka 1
Anemone. Creamy white ray petals edged in a fine raspberry picotee around a fluffy golden pincushion, 10 to 15cm at 90 to 120cm. No two blooms the same. First shown in 2000. Anemone forms have a short vase life, three or four days, so it is an event flower rather than a market bunch. Bay Dahlias.
Aporo Road Strawberry due
Waterlily. Soft blush pink deepening to rose where the petals overlap, over a peach and cream centre still furling open. Broad rounded petals held shallow. Sold out at Farmlet, so this may be the only route to it. Off the wish list. Harmony Gaw.
Gerrie Hoek due
Waterlily. Pink. 1945 Dutch introduction and one of the old benchmark waterlilies. From Valley Dahlias, picking up Saturday.
Pink Gingham due
Waterlily. Pink with white tips. Davey Gardens, order 12313 — placed, subject to payment.
Pink Perception 1
Waterlily. Soft blush-pink petals fading to white at the tips, held flat. 100mm blooms. RHS classify it (WL), waterlily. Introduced 2023 and sells out fast. Tuber marked per. Bought from Myfanwy Gurr, arrived by post wrapped in newspaper.
Priceless Pink 1
Waterlily. Crisp white, irregularly edged and striped violet-pink, and the markings vary flower to flower. 5 to 8cm blooms at 60 to 75cm, so compact. Bulbs Direct, order 242276. Arrived.
Saint Martin 1
Waterlily. Crisp white splashed and tipped deep rose-pink, and the amount of pink varies flower to flower. 10cm blooms on tall straight stems, 90 to 120cm. Very productive. Registered decorative but Bulbs Direct file it as waterlily. Bulbs Direct, order 242276. Arrived.
Sharnis Surprise due
Decorative. Coral-pink over a yellow-gold heart, the outer petals paling towards the tips. Sits close to Shaggy Chic and Lucky Number. Fiesta packet gives medium flower, 80 to 120cm, their house description. Bought locally.
yet
Café — unidentified 1
Decorative. Label unreadable. Café au Lait Rose and Twist are both on the L03 order, so this may be a spare of one of them. Gifted box from the local grower.
Lizz Baaij 1
Decorative. Medium pink with faint darker edging, rounded plush florets in full symmetrical flowers. 10 to 13cm at 80 to 120cm, upright and bushy. Pollinator-friendly with a long flowering run. Bulbs Direct, order 243045. Arrived.
Lucky Number 1
Decorative. Striking pink, fully double with soft-quilled petals. Bulbs Direct call it a large decorative at 20 to 25cm, though a Wellington grower who has grown it for years puts it at 15cm and 160cm tall. The centre opens as the bloom matures and the yellow heart shows, so it turns into a bee flower. Vigorous and long stemmed. Bulbs Direct, order 243045. Arrived.
Melody 1
Decorative. Mid pink with pale tips. Not the same plant as Melody Dora — label them apart. Gifted box from the local grower.
Pacific Ocean 1
Decorative. Soft lemon-yellow petals tipped rosy pink, semi-double to fully double with brushstroke markings. 8 to 10cm at 80 to 90cm, compact. Bulbs Direct, order 243045. Arrived.
Prins Carnaval 1 +1 due
Decorative. Cream-white ground streaked and speckled cerise, a broad stripe up the spine of each petal with fine flecks scattered either side. No two petals marked the same, let alone two flowers. A heritage striped cultivar. Joins the unstable-marking group with American Dream, Saint Martin, Priceless Pink, Double Jill and Twyning’s Smartie. One from Stace Hamilton in hand, another still due from Hollie Beattie.
DJ Blush Hunny 1
Decorative. Blush pink with a butter-yellow centre and fine magenta edges, broad rounded petals. Possibly waterlily. Size and height not yet confirmed. Blooming Dahlias NZ, order 10096. Arrived.
yet
Sweet Sanne 1
Decorative. Fully double formal decorative, 10 to 15cm, opening apricot and ageing to blush pink with a smoky mauve eye packed tight enough that the centre never shows. Dark stems and foliage, 100 to 120cm. Note this is Sweet Sanne, not Sweet Suzanne, which is a different cultivar and is still on the wish list. Chaos Blooms.
yet
Ida Mae 1
Decorative. Small decorative on a white to pale pink base, marbled and streaked with wine-purple and cerise, the marking varying flower to flower on the same plant. 100 to 120cm. Filed on the pink base under the striped rule. Bay Dahlias.
yet
Sweet Love 1
Decorative. Soft blush pink, deeper pink at the base of the petals, creamy white through the centre, 10cm at 120 to 130cm. Floret see lavender veining and slightly cut petal tips. Fades towards cream late in the season. A florist and wedding staple overseas, strong stems, heavy cropper. Mitre 10, 22 September.
yet
Maya 1
Decorative. Soft pink washed with yellow towards an apricot centre, full double blooms of middling size. Gift from Stace Hamilton.
yet
Melody Allegro 1
Decorative. Pink with a yellow heart. One of the Dutch Melody series, so compact and short, with Melody Dora and Melody Gipsy. Label the three apart. Gift from Stace Hamilton.
Pineland Princess 1
Laciniated & fringed. Magenta-pink. NZ Bulbs, order 11W53C7HH021.
Pink fimbriated due
Laciniated & fringed. Magenta over blush, split tips. Unnamed. From the grower.
Sakura Fubuki 1
Laciniated & fringed. Lilac-pink through white with yellow at the heart, split feathery petal tips. Around 11cm at 100 to 110cm. RHS classify it (Fim). Sister to our Kogane Fubuki. Gifted box from the local grower.
Shaggy Chic due
Laciniated & fringed. Laciniated dinnerplate. Soft pink with a lemon-gold heart, petals split and frayed at the tips so the whole bloom looks shaggy. 20cm blooms at 120cm. NZ Bulbs, order 20260607133, pre-order.
Fubuki Fuzzy Wuzzy 1
Laciniated & fringed. Serrated, semi-frilled florets in the Fubuki fimbriated line, up to 110cm. Fiesta give no colour on the packet, only their house description, so the colour band here is provisional. The American cultivar of the same short name is a pink and white bicolour, which may or may not be the same plant. Fourth Fubuki in the collection alongside Fubuki Dark, Kogane Fubuki and Sakura Fubuki. The Warehouse, Fiesta packet.
Melody Gipsy 1
Cactus & semi-cactus. Semi-cactus. Pink with creamy-yellow centres, 5 to 10cm blooms. Bulbs Direct give the height as both 40 to 50cm and around 60cm, so short either way, sturdy and needs no staking. Bred for pots and patios. Not the same plant as Melody or Melody Dora — three similar names in the collection, so label them carefully. Bulbs Direct, order 243045. Arrived.
Omega 1
Cactus & semi-cactus. Rose-pink, yellow and orange together in one bloom. Bulbs Direct file it as a dinnerplate, not a semi-cactus — 5 to 10cm blooms at 90 to 120cm, full sun. Sold as an excellent cutflower. Bulbs Direct, order 243045. Arrived.
Park Princess due
Cactus & semi-cactus. Bright rose-pink deepening at the centre, long narrow rays rolled almost to needles with paler tips. 14cm blooms at 60cm. A border variety and very compact, with strong stems for cutting. One of the few short plants in the collection. NZ Bulbs, order 20260607133, pre-order.
Pink Ballerina due
Cactus & semi-cactus. Pink over a yellow centre, rolled quills. From the grower.
Torsade due
Cactus & semi-cactus. Semi-cactus. Bright magenta-pink with lighter lilac through the petal backs and a small gold eye. Long narrow petals twisting and curling outward — torsade means twisted cord. Very productive by the look of the bunch. Bought with shoots already breaking. Jenny Clarke, paid.
Café au Lait Rose due
Large informal decorative (dinnerplate). Warm mid pink, broad loosely held petals. A sport of Café au Lait. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Café au Lait Royal 1
Large informal decorative (dinnerplate). Cream and blush streaked through with pink, curvy petals, 90 to 120cm. The newest of the Café au Lait family and the one with the most colour in it. Third of the family here with Rose and Twist. Bulbs Direct, order 243045. Arrived.
Café au Lait Twist due
Large informal decorative (dinnerplate). Cream and blush streaked and flecked rose-pink, curvy petals. 90 to 120cm, full sun. The newest of the Café au Lait family. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Frost Nip due
Large informal decorative (dinnerplate). Raspberry pink tipped frosty white, broad slightly curled petals. Up to 25cm at 90 to 120cm. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Otto’s Thrill due
Large informal decorative (dinnerplate). Warm pink over cream, 20 to 25cm. The parent of Break Out. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Penhil Watermelon 1
Large informal decorative (dinnerplate). Peach, pink and yellow. 20cm blooms, 120cm. NZ Bulbs, order 11W53C7HH021.
Taiheijo 1
Large informal decorative (dinnerplate). Enormous loosely formed blooms blending white, pink, mauve and purple, each one marked differently. Broad twisted petals, 23 to 25cm, at 90 to 110cm. Giant informal decorative. Bulbs Direct, order 242276. Arrived.
Twyning’s Smartie 1
Form not yet confirmed. Single-flowered. Eight broad rays, each one split lengthways between deep cerise-pink and clean white, and the split falls differently on every petal. Big golden-orange disc. Fully open centre, so a proper bee flower, and the most graphic thing in the collection. Gift from Formosa GH with the L03 order.
Red & flame 14
Fourteen, unchanged.
Natal 1
Pompom. Vibrant deep red, masses of blooms on long strong stems. 5 to 10cm at 70 to 90cm. The only red in the pompom group. Bulbs Direct, order 243045. Arrived.
Viking due
Ball. Deep true red, every petal rolled into a tight tube so the whole globe reads as rows of little scoops. Dark stems. Prolific, by the look of the plant. Hollie Beattie.
Pooh due
Collarette. Red petals edged and flared yellow, with a yellow collar round a gold disc. 9cm at 135cm. RHS Award of Garden Merit. Swan Island, 1998. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Thumb Print 1
Anemone. Eight broad scarlet-orange rays round a ring of shorter magenta-pink petaloids and a dark maroon disc studded with gold. Fully open centre, so another bee flower. Available at NZ Bulbs. Gift from Formosa GH with the L03 order.
Missis Dutch 1
Decorative. Deep cerise-red with a clear apricot-peach flash up the centre of every petal, so the bloom reads two-toned as it opens. Petal tips rolled into scoops, dark magenta bud at the heart with a ring of gold showing beneath. Bulbs Direct, order 243045. Arrived.
Paradise 1
Decorative. Scarlet with gold flashing at the petal base and a full open yellow disc, so bees can feed from it. One of only a handful of open-centred plants in the collection. Gifted box from the local grower.
Procyon due
Decorative. Golden-yellow through the heart with scarlet flooding down the petal tips, each petal two-toned. 12cm blooms at 100cm. Around for fifty-odd years. NZ Bulbs, order 20260607133, pre-order.
Red Cardinal due
Decorative. Deep crimson, tightly packed, no disc. From the grower.
Northlake Pride due
Laciniated & fringed. Crimson through to magenta, every petal tip split and frayed into fine points so the whole bloom bristles. Introduced 1999. Around 120cm; size reports run from 10 to 25cm. Sellers compare it to a spider or a Chihuly glass sculpture. The only strong red in the laciniated group. Jenny Clarke, paid.
Alain Mimoun due
Cactus & semi-cactus. Crimson-magenta streaked and flecked white, narrow twisted petals. 14 to 20cm at 90 to 120cm. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Crève Coeur due
Cactus & semi-cactus. Giant semi-cactus. Clear crimson-scarlet, long pointed petals twisting out from a dense ruffled centre, deeper wine-red where they overlap. 25cm blooms on ramrod stems at 135 to 150cm. Ferncliff call it one of the biggest dahlias there is and honour table material. The largest bloom in the collection, and the only red at that size. Jenny Clarke, paid.
Fired Up 1
Cactus & semi-cactus. Red-orange. NZ Bulbs, order 11W53C7HH021.
Urchin due
Cactus & semi-cactus. The spiniest of the crimsons, each petal split at the tip. 12cm blooms at 90 to 120cm. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Manhattan Island due
Large informal decorative (dinnerplate). Dinnerplate. Scarlet-red petals shading to gold and cream through the heart, long and pointed with rolled tips, round an open gold disc. The centre stays open, so bees can work it — unusual in a bloom this size. NZ Bulbs, order 20260607133, pre-order.
Dark — burgundy to near black 14
Fourteen, and still the thinnest real colour. Shadow Cat is in at last. Maroon Fox came from Mitre 10. Molly Raven is filed here provisionally.
yet
Shadow Cat 1
Ball. Chocolate burgundy, close to black. 8 to 10cm blooms at 1.2 to 1.5m, sold as ball by some and formal decorative by others. Long strong stems, heavy producer. Was top of the wish list. Source to fill in.
Copper Boy 1 +1 due
Ball. Deep copper with bronze, rust, red and purple through it, dark burgundy at the centre fading outwards in an ombré. Colour deepens as the season goes on. 8 to 10cm at 90 to 120cm, strong stems and excellent vase life. Introduced 2020 by Frans H. Sturm in the Netherlands. Growers pair it with Cornel Bronze and Brown Sugar, and say it is darker and smaller than Brown Sugar. One from Stace Hamilton in hand, another still due from Piako Botanicals.
Ivanetti 2
Ball. 8cm blooms at 100cm. Deep burgundy. One from Piako Botanicals, a second from Alicia Bravo. Mama Bloom were sold out.
yet
Maroon Fox 1
Ball. Velvety black-red small ball, 7 to 10cm at around 90cm. Same family as Zundert Mystery Fox. Off the wish list, where it had been marked sold out at Janelle Gopperth. One of three true dark balls now, with Ivanetti and Shadow Cat. Mitre 10.
yet
Gypsy Night 1
Ball. Deep velvety burgundy-red balls, close to black in the centre. Also spelled Gipsy Night. A different plant from Melody Gipsy. Gift from Stace Hamilton.
Poodle Skirt 1
Anemone. Deep wine-purple pincushion of small florets against swept-back lavender-pink outer rays, forming a skirt. 90 to 100cm, 5 to 10cm blooms, prolific. Bulbs Direct list it as a bee favourite. A third open-centred plant. Kiwi Garden, The Warehouse.
Verrone’s Obsidian due
Orchid. Very dark wine-red to near black with a bright yellow disc. 7 to 10cm at 60 to 90cm. Introduced 2011. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Karma Chocolate due
Waterlily. Chocolate centre lightening to dark red. Karma series, bred for vase life. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Arabian Night due
Decorative. Deep blood-red going near black at the centre, broad rounded petals in even rows with a slight sheen where the light catches. The benchmark dark dahlia. Hollie Beattie.
La Recoleta due
Decorative. Ball. Deep oxblood, so dark it reads near black in shade, with a fine wine-red edge catching the light on each petal. Petals rolled into neat scoops, tightly stacked. One of the darkest things in the collection. Hollie Beattie.
yet
Molly Raven 1
Decorative. Near-black foliage and dark purple stems under a 14cm bloom that sellers cannot agree on: black cherry and deep burgundy from some, dusty pink and plum over coffee from others, fuchsia striping over pink from a third lot. 100 to 135cm, strong stems, heavy cropper. Filed dark on the foliage and the black cherry reports; move it if it opens pink. Top of the wish list and now off it. Purple sticker, most likely The Rural Florist though not confirmed.
yet
Fubuki Dark 1
Laciniated & fringed. The dark one of the Japanese Fubuki group, joining Kogane Fubuki and Sakura Fubuki. Bulbs Direct, order 244187. Arrived.
Black Jack 1
Cactus & semi-cactus. Deep velvety burgundy, near black in low light, with flashes of dark red when the sun catches it. Narrow pointed twisted petals, 13 to 15cm at 90 to 120cm, dark foliage and strong stems. Off the wish list. Gift from Formosa GH with the L03 order.
Penhil Dark Monarch 2
Large informal decorative (dinnerplate). Deep pink-purple, paler reverse. NZ Bulbs, order 11W53C7HH021, and a second from Stace Hamilton.
Mauve, lilac & purple 19
Nineteen. Five came home from Mount Maunganui. Crème de Cassis, Karma Lagoon and Lauren Michelle are still wanted.
yet
Koko Puff 1
Pompom. Tiny pompom of 3 to 5cm in smoky mauve, tan from some angles and dusty rose from others, on a compact 75 to 110cm plant. Introduced by Glenn Gitts, 1994. Described by one grower as a mini-me of Caitlins Joy, which we also have. Makes small tubers. Off the wish list, where it was spelt Kokopuff. Bay Dahlias.
yet
Rocco 2
Pompom. Deep lilac to dark pink pompom, tightly cupped petals in a neat globe of about 6cm at 90cm. Usually sold paired with Franz Kafka as a light and dark set, and we now have both. One purple-sticker tuber, most likely The Rural Florist though not confirmed, and a second from Bulbs Direct, order 243045, arrived. Bulbs Direct’s invoice confirms the name. The catalogue had this Bulbs Direct tuber down as Rococo, which was a mix-up.
yet
Franz Kafka 1
Pompom. Lilac-pink pompom, 5 to 7cm, honeycombed and near perfectly round, at 90 to 120cm. Named for the writer. Sits between the pinks and the mauves and could file either way. Purple sticker, most likely The Rural Florist though not confirmed.
Eveline due
Ball. Clean white with lavender washing in at the petal tips and deepening to soft violet in the centre, so the colour sits inside the flower rather than on the edge. Thin strong stems for cutting. A heavy tuber producer, which matters for propagating. Available at Bulbs Direct too. Hollie Beattie.
Wine Eyed Jill due
Ball. The pink form — cream-peach petals to a deep wine-purple centre. Sellers describe Wine Eyed Jill in both pink and yellow, so worth noting which this is. 8cm blooms, 100 to 110cm. Filed as ball by Bulbs Direct and J Parkers, small formal decorative by Lily’s Garden, anemone by The Real Flower Company, so the form may not hold. The only dark eye in the collection. Bought from Alicia Bravo.
Impression Famoso due
Collarette. Soft lavender petals with a white collar, 10cm blooms at 80cm. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Mambo 1
Anemone. A ring of flat mauve-pink rays round a big raised cushion of deep wine-burgundy florets tipped cream-gold. Seventh anemone, and another bee flower. Bulbs Direct, order 244187. Arrived.
Blue Bayou 1
Anemone. Lavender-pink outer petals round a dense pincushion of deep purple-magenta quill-like florets. The outer petals fade to lilac as the bloom ages. 10 to 15cm at 80 to 120cm, dark stems and lush foliage. Flowers midsummer to frost. A fourth open-centred plant, and growers call it a magnet for bees and butterflies. There is no true blue in dahlias — this is the closest the genus gets. Gift from Formosa GH with the L03 order.
Que Sera 1
Anemone. Mauve and white speckled through the petals, ruffled, 15cm blooms on tall slender stems. 80 to 90cm and shrubby, so it suits borders and pots. Bulbs Direct tag it a bee favourite and file it as anemone. Bulbs Direct, order 243045. Arrived.
yet
Richards Fortune 1
Anemone. Anemone with a dark purple pincushion centre ringed by lighter lilac outer petals, blooms to 10cm. Third anemone in this group. The Warehouse, Fiesta packet.
Seduction due
Waterlily. Lavender with magenta streaking and a dark plum centre, dark stems, 10 to 15cm blooms. Davey Gardens file it as waterlily; Floret call it informal decorative and Summer Dreams call it small formal, so the form may not hold up. Arriving with the Gerrie Hoek.
Ryan C. due
Decorative. Deep plum-purple with clean white petal tips, the white widening towards the outer petals. Nothing else in the collection pairs dark plum with a hard white edge. Fiesta packet gives medium flower, 80 to 120cm, but that is their house description rather than anything cultivar-specific. Bought locally.
England’s Glory due
Decorative. Magenta-purple with clean white petal tips. Formosa GH, order L03. Arrived.
Lilac Bull 1
Decorative. Peppy lilac with merlot undersides, petals curled into a pattern. 10cm blooms, 90 to 110cm. Bulbs Direct file it as a ball, not a decorative. A second tuber was bought at Mitre 10 on 19 September by mistake and has been returned. Bulbs Direct, order 243045. Arrived.
Alauna Clair Obscur 1
Laciniated & fringed. Deep purple-pink at the heart bleeding out to white at the tips, fringed and twisted petals. 90 to 110cm. Fimbriated, though several sellers file it as cactus. Sources disagree on almost everything about it except that the two colours meet mid-petal. Kiwi Garden, The Warehouse.
Ambition 1
Cactus & semi-cactus. Deep magenta-purple going near black in shadow, brighter fuchsia where the light catches the petal fronts. Long narrow rays with split notched tips. Sits across the two thinnest bands at once. Bulbs Direct, order 244187. Arrived.
Table Dancer 1
Cactus & semi-cactus. Vivid purple tubular petals dipped white at the tips, recurved so they read as frilly, about 12cm at up to 90cm. Semi-cactus, though several sellers call it fimbriated. Dutch, and noted as loved by pollinators. Also stocked by Kiwi Garden at The Warehouse. Gift from Formosa GH with the L03 order.
Mums Special 1
Large informal decorative (dinnerplate). White ground streaked lavender-violet up the centre of each petal, gathering to a dusky mauve heart. The only white-and-mauve at this scale in the collection. Bulbs Direct, order 244187. Arrived.
yet
Who Me 1
Large informal decorative (dinnerplate). Big loose dinnerplate, 15 to 18cm, white petals washed and tipped lavender with a touch of yellow at the heart. Very tall, 150 to 180cm, so back of the bed and stake it early. Purple sticker, most likely The Rural Florist though not confirmed.
Colour not yet known 6
Six. Three bags from Mount Maunganui, one from Gweneth Taylor and one from Shelley Mehan and one from Stace Hamilton, none with a reliable listing online. They get a colour band once they flower.
yet
Rural Rebecca 1
Form not yet confirmed. Nothing found under this name on any NZ or overseas supplier site, and nothing in the cultivar registers. Likely a local or unregistered seedling that Bay Dahlias grow themselves. Worth asking them directly, and worth photographing when it opens. Bay Dahlias.
yet
Mrs Ooh La La 1
Form not yet confirmed. No listing found under this name. Most likely MW’s Ooh La La, which other NZ growers sell, MW being a breeder prefix. Photograph it when it flowers and file it then. Maxwelton’s Valley Blooms.
yet
Bob 1
Form not yet confirmed. No listing found under Bob alone. Deputy Bob is a bright orange-red decorative and is the nearest match by name, but that is a guess and not a match. Purple sticker, most likely The Rural Florist though not confirmed.
yet
Zippity Do Dah 1
Form not yet confirmed. Almost nothing online. One Italian nursery lists it as pink, 80 to 100cm, good for cutting, with no form or bloom size. Also check the label spelling, since it turns up as Zippity and Zippidy. Photograph it when it opens and file it then. Gweneth Taylor.
yet
Hatton Peachy 1
Form not yet confirmed. No listing found under this name on any NZ or overseas supplier site. The name suggests peach but that is a guess, so it waits here until it flowers. Hatton may be a breeder prefix, worth asking Shelley. Shelley Mehan.
yet
Melody Fox 1
Form not yet confirmed. The tag reads Melody Fox, but there is no Melody Fox in the Dutch Melody series and nothing listed anywhere under that name. Possibly a misremembered name. Photograph it when it flowers. Gift from Stace Hamilton.
Seeds
26 packets · 4 suppliers
Six from Emerden in Tikorangi, Taranaki. The sweet peas came from NZ Bulbs with the dahlia order. The rest carry the seller’s own category labels; supplier not recorded on the order screenshots. The four newest packets came from Maxwelton’s Valley Blooms.
Helipterum — Pierrot White
Helipterum — Pierrot Red
Lupine — Russell’s Formula Mix
Eryngium — Blue Glitter
Eryngium — White Glitter
Echinops Ritro
Strawflower — Silvery Rose
Strawflower — Purple Red
Strawflower — Apricot/Peach Mix
Statice QIS Apricot Shades
Salvia — Pink Sundae
Amaranthus — Hot Biscuits
Amaranthus — Coral Fountain
Celosia — Pampas Plume
Achillea — Favourite Berries
Chocolate Lace
Cress — Pennycress
Poppy — Amazing Grey
Papaver rhoeas. Slate grey-purple, tissue-thin petals that last a couple of days but flush again daily. 30cm+, sow autumn to late winter, do not cover. A bee favourite.
Poppy — Pastel Meadows
Iceland poppy mix leaning creamy and peachy, smaller flowered and very productive. 30cm+, 22cm spacing. Seed is tiny and needs light to germinate. Grown by Emerden themselves.
Silene — Blushing Lanterns
Silene vulgaris, also called bladder campion. Sprays of green and blush balloon-like pods with white petals. 50 to 80cm. Cut once the first flower’s petals have dropped. Self seeds hard.
yet
Didiscus — Blue Lace
yet
Rudbeckia — Sahara
yet
Zinnia — Oklahoma Salmon
yet
Zinnia — Zinderella Lilac
Sweet Pea Solstice Pink
Sweet Pea Enchante
Bulbs
10 lines · daffodils, ranunculus and callas
Bulbs Direct, except the Zantedeschia which came from NZ Bulbs. Mostly daffodils, bought in bulk. All the Bulbs Direct daffodils were sold out at time of checking and come back January through April.
Earlicheer
Daffodil, double. Ivory white, up to 8 blooms per stem, 30 to 50cm. Very early, and strongly scented. Classification 4 W-Y.
Soestdijk
Daffodil, large cupped. Ivory petals around a frilled orange cup, yellow at the base and edged white. Blooms to 10cm, 40 to 50cm, mid to late. Classification 2 W-YOW.
Orange Eye
Daffodil, small cupped. Yellow petals with a contrasting orange cup, 30 to 40cm, mid season. Classification 3 Y-O.
Dick Wilden
Daffodil, double. A sport of Carlton. Bright sulphur yellow, layered, on stems over 67cm. Early to mid. Classification 4 Y-Y.
Daffodil Double Mix
Hand chosen selection of doubles — multiple rings of petals or tufted frilled cups, across yellow, white, peach, pink and bicolour. 30 to 50cm, plant 8 to 10cm deep. The varieties will not be named.
Ranunculus — Magenta
Bold magenta-pink, layers of ruffled petals. 4 to 6cm flowers on 30 to 50cm stems, part shade lengthens the stems. Chill the corms in their paper bag for 3 to 5 weeks before planting.
Martha Stewart
Daffodil, large cupped. Creamy white petals round a buttery cup with a frilled apricot-pink rim that deepens as the bloom matures. 35 to 45cm, mid season, strong stems. Classification 2 W-WWP.
Calla — BD-D23
Warm rose-pink spathes deepening to coral at the throat with a gold flush at the base, speckled leaves. Not yet named.
Calla — BD-E33
Dusky coral-terracotta with darker veining and a gold spadix. Not yet named.
Calla — Lady Marmalade
Flame orange shading to gold at the throat, on bright green stems.
Calla — Rehmannii
Rose-pink spathes paling to cream and green at the base, gold spadix, spotted leaves.
Zantedeschia Candy Stripe
Calla lily. Pale pink striped and flushed through white.
What we want — waterlily
15 varieties
Fully double, no central disc, few broad rays slightly rolled along their length. Depth less than half the diameter.
Top four
Taratahi Ruby
Raised by John Frater, NZ, 1997. Scarlet lightening to orange through the season. 130mm+ blooms, 120cm. Spelled Taratahi.
Gwyneth
Small waterlily. Bronze on a yellow base. 100 to 150mm blooms, 90 to 120cm. Davey is the only NZ source found. Spelled Gwyneth.
NZ bred or NZ listed
Taratahi Sunrise
Yellow-orange. Same Frater breeding as Taratahi Ruby.
Keith Hammett
Golden yellow tending orange at the tips. 12cm blooms, 120cm. Carried in the Hammett Selection.
Twiggy
Warm pink suffused with light yellow, open shaped. 13cm blooms, 120cm.
Taratahi Glo — Frater, NZ. No NZ shop lists it and no photo found.
Out of stock
Crème de Cassis
Dusty lilac-mauve petals edged in a fine wine line, over a deep burgundy centre. Sister to Crème de Cognac and carries the same form argument: Davey list it as waterlily, others call it a ball or informal decorative. Either way it is the closest thing on any list to the smoky mauve the collection lacks.
Sandia Rose
Pinky peach at Davey; dark pink elsewhere, so it shifts with soil and season. 13 to 15cm blooms with ruffled petals that glow at the centre, long strong stems, 100 to 120cm. Bred by Steve and Sandy Boley, 2011. Growers compare it to Wildwood Marie but call it more compact and much freer flowering.
Charlie Dimmock
Orange. Garden display.
Cameo
Soft cream-blush.
White Ballerina
Clean white. Exhibition cultivar.
Karma Lagoon
Soft purply-ink. Karma series.
Lauren Michelle
Lavender purple.
Meadowlea
Vibrant orange, garden display.
Edwin’s Sunset
Glowing red exhibition cultivar.
Angels of 7A
Red, garden display.
Wish list photos load from the sellers’ sites and need internet. Collection photos are embedded in the file and work offline.
What we want — ball and other forms
27 varieties
Fully double, ball shaped, rays rolled into scoops and set in a spiral.
Ball
Sweet Suzanne
Soft apricot, peach and creamy yellow. Rounded ball blooms, 90 to 120cm.
Portofino
Apricot-orange, outer petals lightening to soft orange. 10 to 11cm blooms, 100 to 110cm.
New Baby
Bright scarlet-orange with gold flashing at the petal bases, tightly rolled into little scoops round a small gold eye. 7cm blooms at 90cm.
yet
Snow Cap
Ivory to creamy white, around 10cm blooms. More than one cultivar has carried the name.
Other forms
Crushed Velvet first, then Grayval Gem. Molly Raven came home from Mount Maunganui and is now in the dark block.
Farmlet split everything from their own growing stock rather than importing, and say plainly they cannot guarantee disease-free given how hard testing is in New Zealand. All 93 of their tubers were sold out at time of checking; stock goes on sale in an autumn pre-sale and again in spring. Their URL slugs do not match their product names, so the links matter more than the names in them.
Black Jack, Crème Silence and Holly Huston are the named cultivars in the Kiwi Garden dinnerplate range at The Warehouse, Two of them have no other NZ source found.
Crushed Velvet
Magenta-pink petals shading to deep burgundy at the base, over near-black foliage. Colour and foliage from photo. Size and height not yet confirmed. The RHS records it as a decorative with the name unresolved.
Thomas Edison
Deep velvety purple. 18 to 23cm blooms at 90 to 120cm. Photo from Bulbs Direct.
yet
Fluffles
Lavender-pink with creamy white centres, rounded and ruffled. 12 to 15cm blooms at about 130cm. Strong upright stems, prolific. Sold out at Janelle Gopperth before the order went through.
yet
Purple Taiheijo
Purple. Large show blooms at 90 to 120cm. A separate plant from the white, pink and purple blended Taiheijo already in the collection.
yet
Romance
Salmon-peach with a shimmer. 10 to 15cm blooms at 120 to 140cm. Very thick stems, prolific.
yet
Chaos Blooms Pavlova
Colour, form, size and height not yet confirmed.
Rancho
Soft apricot-orange paling to cream at the outer petals, warming to a coral-red heart. 15cm blooms at 80cm. Limited to two per customer at NZ Bulbs.
Time Changer
Apricot with a yellow eye.
Hapet Perfect
Cream centre to rose.
PG Wodehouse
Salmon with a lemon centre. 14cm blooms, 100cm.
yet
Platinum Blonde
White petals around a lemon pincushion centre.
Belle of Barmera
A blend of sunset hues running apricot and coral through raspberry to rose-pink, with a peach centre. Loosely rolled and twisting petals give it texture. 20 to 25cm blooms — genuinely dinnerplate — on tall plants of 120 to 150cm with dark stems. Worth knowing it usually opens its centre wide as it matures, so cut early if you want it closed. Top-heavy, so it wants a sheltered spot and staking before planting.
Grayval Gem
Warm apricot, banana yellow and peach in the same bloom, deepening to rose-pink at the centre, petals rolled into neat scoops. Photo from Bay Dahlias. New Zealand bred, which puts it with the Taratahis, Kaiwera Gold, Kotare Kate and Butterscotch.
Dark Spirit
Rich burgundy-red so deep it reads almost black, more so in cool weather. Tightly rolled petals in a neat rounded ball, 6 to 8cm at 80 to 100cm, sturdy stems. Fills two gaps at once: pompom is a form we have none of, and this is darker than anything in the collection. Widely stocked — Bulbs Direct, NZ Bulbs, Oderings, Fiesta Bulbs, Big Jims and The Fruitful Potager all list it.
Amber Queen
Bronze-orange, tightly packed symmetrical petals with a terracotta reverse, colour leaning more yellow as the season goes on. 5cm blooms on a 90 to 120cm plant. Introduced by Harry Stredwick, 1945. Early, very free flowering, and described everywhere as a workhorse. Would be our second pompom.
Crème Silence
Butter yellow fading to cream-white on the outer petals, flecked and striped dark red, and the markings vary flower to flower. Up to 120cm. Covers the clean yellow the collection lacks, and it is the only one of the three with other NZ sources — Bulbs Direct and Springvale, both sold out. 10 to 15cm blooms, 100 to 120cm.
Holly Huston
Fiery bright red, broad petals with quilled tips, 25cm blooms at 150cm. Registered mid-season. Growers say the colour never fades and it repeats reliably. It would be the largest bloom in the collection by some margin, and cactus is already the deepest group, and at 150cm it wants a stake in before planting. No other NZ source found.
JCs Afterglow
Peach-apricot flushed pink, fine pink veining through the petals, deep raspberry at the centre. Listed under the slug peter.
yet
Joal Kaitlin
Pink toned with a large sturdy head. Farmlet call it a new favourite. Spelled Kaitlin on the page, Kaitlyn in the link.
Silver Years
Palest blush pink fading to a cream centre, with a whisper of lavender at the petal tips. 10cm blooms, strong stems, and a heavy producer that gets more prolific as the season goes on. Growers call the colour close to neutral. Height reports run from 75cm to 150cm. Listed under the slug totally-tangerine, which is a different plant.
Sylvia Craig Hunter
Coral-terracotta orange, petals reflexing right back on themselves. 12 to 20cm depending who you ask, 120 to 150cm tall. Hybridised in Australia and noted as an especially good seed producer, which matters for the breeding block. Durable form gives it longer vase life than most. Also sold as Sylvia C Hunter.
Tanita
Fuchsia-pink petals fading toward the tips with vivid red undersides, slightly curled and fringed, so the colour shifts two-tone with the light. 12 to 14cm blooms at 90 to 120cm, sturdy upright stems. Photo from Bulbs Direct.
Radegast
Magenta-pink striped and fading to white tips, petals slightly curled and twisted inward for a tousled look. Up to 20cm blooms at 100 to 120cm on strong upright stems with dark green foliage. Bi-coloured and pollinator friendly. Lily’s Garden file it as anemone in the URL but decorative in the description.
Sold out or not ordered
4 varieties
All four were on the L03 packing slip and crossed off — Formosa could not supply them.
American Dream
Crossed off the L03 packing slip. Pink and white stripes, every flower a different combination — it is a chimera, so the pattern is unstable by nature. Long stems, flowers November to May, heavy tuber producer. A sport of Mick’s Peppermint, Eeuwijk, Netherlands, 2002.
Crazy Love
Crossed off the L03 packing slip. White with a thin violet-pink petal trim and a hint of lime at the heart. Almost dinnerplate size, 70 to 90cm. Not the same plant as Crazy Legs.
Hamari Gold
Crossed off the L03 packing slip. Bronzy gold, giant size.
Vera’s Elma
Mauve pink with a cream centre and flecks, involute form. Centres tend to lime unless the soil is dressed with potash. 7 to 10 days in a vase. Gardener, UK, 1996. Crossed off the L03 packing slip.
Where to hunt
NZ suppliers
- Davey Gardens Timaru
Dedicated waterlily category, around 43 varieties.
- NZ Bulbs Feilding
180+ varieties. 11 waterlilies in the dahlia filter.
- Bulbs Direct Northland
350+ varieties. All four ball wish list varieties.
- Dahlia Haven Dairy Flat
Mail order, single tubers and collections of ten.
- Stillwater Flowers Christchurch
Spray free. Runs its own breeding programme.
- Tararua Dahlias Pahiatua
Wairarapa.
- Mama Bloom
Ivanetti, Kokopuff, Coralie, Peaches n Cream. Also Caitlins Joy, Cornel Bronze, Wine Eyed Jill.
- Petal Plants Auckland
100% NZ grown. Linda’s Baby, Daisy Duke, Great Silence, Crème de Cognac.
- Buds and Blooms Puketapu, Hawkes Bay
Snoho Jojo, Daisy Duke, Peaches n Cream.
Where everything came from
27 sources
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NZ Bulbstwo orders
Order 11W53C7HH021: Cabana Banana, Fired Up, Pineland Princess, Nadia Ruth, Kogane Fubuki, Penhil Watermelon, Penhil Dark Monarch, plus both sweet peas and the Zantedeschia. Order 20260607133, pre-ordered June, still to ship: Butterscotch, Karras, Manhattan Island, Park Princess, Procyon, Shaggy Chic. No longer available: New Baby, Rancho, Hapet Perfect, PG Wodehouse and Time Changer.
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Local growernamed and unnamed
Spassmacher, peach cactus, Pink Ballerina, pink fimbriated, Keith Hammond, Red Cardinal, Lake Carey.
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Local growergifted box
Paradise, Melody, pale pink cactus, Sakura Fubuki, an unidentified Café, and a second Cabana Banana. Several smaller labels were unreadable and remain unrecorded.
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Valley Dahliaspicked up
Gerrie Hoek, Seduction, and the unidentified white waterlily.
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Davey Gardensorder 12313 · subject to payment
Bride to Be, Gingersnap, Pink Gingham, Teddy. All waterlily.
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Bulbs Directpaid
First order, 242276, arrived 1 October: Petra’s Wedding, Melody Dora, Taiheijo, Priceless Pink, Saint Martin, Octopus Sparkle, Crazy Legs, Irish Pinwheel, Nicholas. Second order, 243045, arrived 6 October: Orange Perception, Blitzer, Missis Dutch, Lilac Bull, Que Sera, Pacific Ocean, Natal, Little Robert, Lizz Baaij, Omega, Melody Gipsy, Rocco, Tsuki-Yori-No-Shisha, Lipoma, Café au Lait Royal, Lucky Number, plus the callas Lady Marmalade and Rehmannii. Not on that invoice: the unnamed calla seedlings BD-D23 and BD-E33. Also all the daffodils and the ranunculus. Third order, 244187, arrived 10 October: Mambo, Mums Special, Ambition, Fubuki Dark, Bantling.
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Formosa Garden Houseorder L03
Alain Mimoun, Blondee, Bracken Ballerina, Café au Lait Rose, Café au Lait Twist, Colour Spectacle, Embrace, England’s Glory, Firepot, Frost Nip, Glorie van Heemstede, Impression Famoso, Kaiwera Gold, Karma Chocolate, Otto’s Thrill, Pam Howden, Philip Campos, Pooh, Show n Tell, Totally Tangerine, Urchin, Verrone’s Obsidian. Eight gifts on top: Black Jack, Blue Bayou, Lifestyle, Shooting Star, Table Dancer, Thumb Print, Twyning’s Smartie, Uncle Hanky.
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Blenheim sellerFacebook Marketplace
Snoho Jojo, Linda’s Baby, Daisy Duke, Great Silence.
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Harmony Gawprivate sale
Aporo Road Strawberry, Crème de Cognac, Peaches n Cream, Yelno Harmony.
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Jenny Clarkepaid
Chilson’s Pride, Coralie, Crève Coeur, Northlake Pride, Rosemary Webb, Torsade, Westerton Lillian.
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Hollie Beattieordered
Arabian Night, David Howard, Eveline, La Recoleta, Prins Carnaval, Viking.
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Alicia Bravoprivate sale
Wine Eyed Jill (pink form) and a second Ivanetti.
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Piako Botanicalsby post
Copper Boy, Great Hercules, Ivanetti, Jowey Winnie, L.A.T.E., Myrtle’s Folly.
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Myfanwy Gurrby post
Pink Perception and an unidentified white waterlily. Arrived wrapped in newspaper, the tubers marked only per and white.
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Kiwi GardenThe Warehouse
Alauna Clair Obscur, Golden Scepter, Snowflake, Poodle Skirt.
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Blooming Dahlias NZWaitarere · spring sale · arrived 1 October
DJ Blush Hunny (order 10096), Iced Tea (order 10111).
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Janelle Gopperthordered ahead of the Mount Maunganui sale
Isabel (sold as Isobel), and further tubers of Caitlins Joy and Snoho Jojo.
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EmerdenTikorangi, Taranaki
Achillea Favourite Berries, Chocolate Lace, Pennycress, Poppy Amazing Grey, Poppy Pastel Meadows, Silene Blushing Lanterns.
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Not recordedto fill in
Shadow Cat, Caitlins Joy, Cornel Bronze, Bracken Palamino, Blyton Softer Gleam, and the 16 seed packets other than the sweet peas and the Emerden six.
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Stall 3 Bay DahliasTauriko · Mount Maunganui, 12 September
Ida Mae, Koko Puff, Pink Pearl, Polka, Rural Rebecca, Sebastian, plus second tubers of Caitlins Joy and Isabel. Hosts of the sale. They grow for weddings and carry local cultivars nobody else lists, which is likely where Rural Rebecca comes from.
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Stall 5 Chaos BloomsTe Kowhai · Mount Maunganui, 12 September
Brown Sugar, My Love, Sweet Sanne.
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Maxwelton’s Valley BloomsMount Maunganui, 12 September
Mrs Ooh La La, plus four seed packets: Didiscus Blue Lace, Rudbeckia Sahara and the two Zinnias.
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The Rural FloristMount Maunganui, 12 September · not confirmed
Bob, Boom Boom White, Franz Kafka, Genova, Molly Raven, Rocco, Who Me, Wittem, plus a second Blondee. Nine bags with purple stickers and handwriting, all off the same table. Attributed on recollection, not on a receipt, so worth confirming with them before next season.
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The WarehouseFiesta packets
Fubuki Fuzzy Wuzzy, Inca, Le Castel, Richards Fortune, plus second tubers of Sharnis Surprise and Ryan C. Fiesta packets carry a house description rather than a cultivar one, so heights and flower sizes off these packets are not reliable.
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Mitre 1019 and 22 September
Maroon Fox, then Sweet Love on the 22nd. A second Lilac Bull was bought at the same time and has been returned, since one is already due from Bulbs Direct.
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Stace Hamiltongift
Maya, Pink Sylvia, Labyrinth (tagged 2 Tone Labyrinth), Melody Allegro, Gypsy Night, Salmon Runner, Melody Fox, plus second tubers of Copper Boy, Coralie, Prins Carnaval, Penhil Dark Monarch and Melody Dora. Untagged tubers not recorded.
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Shelley Mehan
Hamilton Lillian, Hatton Peachy.
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Gweneth Taylor29 September
Small World, Double Jill, Zippity Do Dah, plus second tubers of Lifestyle and Milena Fleur.
Stock and prices current at time of checking.