We love: dahlias!
Posted:9 August 2013
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again we love their exuberance, their beautiful colours and their multitude of exotic forms. If you haven’t yet switched on to dahlias, do it now, I’m sure you won’t regret it!
- Plant dahlia tubers (or cuttings) in March or early April, in a generous pot.
- Plant the tuber stem upwards, 5cm deep, in a light, frost-free place.
- Alternatively, plant out tubers in the ground after mid-April 5cm below soil level, when danger of frost has passed.
- Plant dahlias in a free-draining, open, sunny site, avoiding overhanging trees.
- Add plenty of organic matter and apply bonemeal to the top 5cm.
- Use good quality stakes – one per plant – canes are too weak. Tie in plants loosely as they grow.
- Watch out for slugs, snails, aphids and earwigs. Upturned flowerpots, filled with straw and placed on top of the stake will attract earwigs. Empty out every few days away from the plants.
- Remove dead flowers to encourage further flowering and mulch around the plant (spent flower buds are pointed, new flower buds are rounded).
- Lift tubers at the end of the season when frost has blackened the foliage.
- Store in a frost-free environment in sand or dry compost. By late February remove from storage and pot off to start into growth for cuttings.
