Dear all: The first thing of interest in Dahlia species is how different than those of garden Dahlias their flowers are . In fact, they always look like daisies (some like Coreopsis, some like Tithonias) and from a distance Dahlia imperialis flowers look like Clematis. We are only at the very beginning of learning about them as the current revision gives 33 species in four sections. Of course, enclosing a list of them below is not to encourage “modern day plant explorers” to plunder them from the wild for sale!! I. Pseudodendron D. excelsa D. imperialis D. tenuicaulis II. Epiphytum D. macdougallii III. Entemophyllum D. scapigeroides D. foeniculifolia D. dissecta D. linearis D. rupícola D. congestifolia IV. Dahlia D. apiculata D. brevis D. cardiophylla D. mollis D. parvibracteata D. rudis D. scapigera D. tenuis D. tubulata D. hjertingii D. merckii D. australis D. coccinea D. sherffii D. atropurpurea D. barkerae D. neglecta D. pteropoda D. sorensenii D. spectabilis D. hintonii D. moorei D. purpusii And Paul, Dahlia imperialis is not a short day plant here. It is obviously a matter of temperatures as it flowers for a long period in summer and autumn. When grown in greenhouses it starts flowering in spring and does not stop until late autumn. I find a great drawback in “tree” Dahlias and it is that they can be torn to pieces by wind and it is not always easy to find a sheltered place for them in every garden. The main problem we will find when growing Dahlia species is how to maintain them pure as bees can perform wonders in crossing all sorts of Dahlias. Possibly root division will be the only way to achieve this. Regards Alberto _________________________________________________________________ Charla con tus amigos en línea mediante MSN Messenger: http://messenger.yupimsn.com/