Category: Dahlias
Dahlia ‘Karma Chocoloate’ in the Front Border
Dahlia ‘Mrs. Rose Fletcher’ in the Front Border
You Can Never Have Too Many Dahlias
As a follow-up to my September Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day post, here are some additional pictures of those beautiful dahlias.
Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day: Dahlias in New Jersey – September 2008
For the September 2008 Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, I’m sharing with all of you one of my favorite late summer/autumn flowers–dahlias (another favorite are the sunflowers that I recently posted about).
I plant the dahlia tubers in the spring and watch them grow, grow, grow. The tallest grow to be over six feet tall. They are the perfect cutting flower: the more flowers you cut, the more they bloom. I plant them throughout my garden–throughout the mixed borders, in the Rose Garden, in the Cutting Garden, in the Children’s Garden, really everywhere. At the end of the season, I dig up the tubers and over-winter them in my basement.
The varieties you see here are from Brent and Becky’s Bulbs, Old House Gardens, and Plant Delights. I am particularly fond of the dark-colored ones.
Check out all of the Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day posts at May Dreams Gardens.
Arab Queen.
Arabian Knight.
David Howard.
I forget.
Betty Anne.
Giraffe.
Old Gold.
I forget.
Prince Noir.
Old House Gardens Nursery & Heirloom Dahlias
My garden planning for next year is in full tilt now. I just received the Old House Gardens email newsletter which I had been waiting for to see what web only dahlias, glads, and cannas will be offered. The dahlia ‘Giraffe’ was first in my shopping cart.
Old House Gardens–“Antique Flower Bulbs for Every Garden – Unique, Endangered, Amazing!”–is a great source for heirloom bulbs: cannas, dahlias, glads, tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, lillies, and a few diverse others. Every shipment is carefully checked and packed. Nothing which is sub prime gets out. The bulbs come with detailed instructions on planting, forcing, and winter care.
For the summer, dahlias are my favorite cut flower and are super easy to grow. One dahlia tuber produces loads of blooms which keep getting better and better as the season winds down and other plants are calling it quits. Cut flowers mix well in arrangements and hold well in water. The heirloom dahlias offered at Old House Gardens are not the super sized dahlias that are difficult to mix with other flowers, but come in a range from small pompoms to larger 5-6 inch diameter flowers.
Dahlias can be started inside in pots before the weather warms up for an early start. But, seeing that dahlias grow so quickly, I usually wait until the weather has warmed up and plant them outdoors when I plant my tomatoes. I always topdress the soil and incorporate a little compost into the planting hole when I plant my tubers. After they start growing, begin watering them and watch them grow.
The one thing to be vigilant about, however, is staking. When planting put a tall stake in next to the tuber. Don’t think it’s too tall because in about six weeks you will otherwise be wishing you had. The hollow stems of dahlias break very easily in a summer storm or strong winds, so be careful to begin tying them in when they are about 18 inches tall.
Once blooming, keep deadheading or cutting for the house. The more you cut, the more they bloom.
In the fall, I will post about storing dahlias for the winter.
Heirloom Gardener 
