Dazzling Dahlias

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Dahlias are doing well this Autumn. .The key to success is a really good rich soil with plenty of organic material, a regular pruning, possibly staking as the plants grow ever taller and the occasional feed.http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plantprofile_dahlia.shtml

What I love about these plants is that they flower at a time when the garden needs a real lift, popping their  brazen heads up above the wilting remains of many other plants that are past their sell-by date.

With over 50,000 different flowers to choose from in every colour imaginable there is certain to be something for your garden – unless you want a blue variety which is the only colour not available!

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They are grown from a tuber, a bulb like structure, and are classified as bulb plants. Plant them near the beginning of June to provide wonderful colour late Autumn colour. Many gardeners dig up dahlia tubas for the winter to be re-planted the following year. If your garden is sheltered from frost, try leaving them in and covering them with straw as many will do better this way as long as the ground does not become frozen or water-logged.

Or, if you fancy growing these delectable plants from seed, read the interesting piece about propogating dahlias on the BBC Gardeners World web-site: http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/dahlias-from-seed/index.jsp

Christopher Lloyd introduced  The Bishop of Llandaff to the UK in 1927 and it became a favourite at Great Dixter. It has now become one of the most popular due to its tall elegant stems with intense dark purple foliage and a generous amount of large peony- flowered, semi-double intense bright red flower heads, each two or three inches across on long, tall stems – see below.

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Dahlias blend perfectly with exotic plants, creating a riot of colour against green large leaf foliage. Even if you are not a big fan of these showy, in-your-face plants, I hope this blog might change your mind.Like them or hate them – they certainly will not let you ignore them!

This post was written by:

- who has written 872 posts on My Climate Change Garden.

I am not an experienced gardener - more of an enthusiastic amateur who learns by trial and error and who is keen to "manage" the effects of shifting weather patterns on my garden. Writing this blog is my passion and it has evolved over 12 years to inspire engagement with climate change outside our back doors, in our personal gardens and green spaces. My mission is to fertilise and expand this platform to grow a community of global gardeners communicating about the effects of climate change on our plants and exploring how each individual can make small changes in our lives to become more sustainable. The future of our gardens and #OurPlanet is in our hands - please plant your own seeds for our collective sustainable future.

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4 Comments For This Post

  1. Shala Says:

    Those are beautiful! It’s so nice to see what grows well in other parts of the world. Those poor things wouldn’t last a week here since we are lucky to get an inch of rain every month or so. I would spend all my time watering.

  2. Rosie Catherwood Says:

    I use no chemicals on my dahlias. My garden has a pond and resulting insects, frogs and toads and birds so I try to keep it as chemical free as possible. The only guilty exception is an early spray on the roses but really I have so many ladybirds, ladybird larvae and blue tits that greenfly is not the problem. Also the plot is small enough for me to hand remove slugs and snails on night manoeuvres and I use nematodes as well. Incidentally, I find crushing greenfly and blackfly on the stem by hand (well, gloved hand) and smearing the resulting mush around on the plant stem seems to deter others for a long time. I think the smell of dead compatriots must be a real turn off for them.

    I know they are supposed to be greedy for food and water but honestly, even if you don’t submit to their needs, they still deliver great flowers regularly as long as you keep picking and dead-heading. I think this is one instance where my clay helps, like with roses, because the water and nutrients are quite well held around their root systems. They get no special favours in my garden.

  3. diane scherle Says:

    Love Dahlias as well

    Some shown are gorgeous
    I am in Canada, just outside of Toronto.
    Have to bring tubers inside in winter.
    I pot some of them into large pots and when it freezes and the tops die down I just bring the entire pot into the sunroom and leave it there unwatered until they can go outside once again

    Pots can be heavy but it works fine.

  4. Katelyn Says:

    You breath fresh sunshine onto everything you write