So much variety
I find dahlias just fascinating. When it comes to variety of colours and shapes it's hard to think of a flower more diverse than the dahlia. They come in an infinite range of hues and there are more than 60,000 varieties of this beautiful flower. They also grow in a range of shapes - from single-flowering orchid dahlias to puffy pom pom dahlias to decorative dahlias to cactus dahlias to large dinner plate dahlias. We prefer the pom poms for vase life but cafe au lait, labyrinth and breakout dinner plates are so lovely that we grow them too. :)
Easy to grow
We grow about 100 dahlias and 20 different varieties here right now. Dahlias grow from tubers (like potatoes) which we store in our cool basement in saw dust or vermiculite for the winter. Come early spring, we begin to wake up our dahlias by planting them in pots in the greenhouse. Once they begin to sprout, you can actually take a cutting and plant the cutting to propagate another dahlia! This dahlia will look exactly like the mother plant. A new sprout will also begin to grow on the original tuber. You can also grow dahlias from seed but they won't look like the original plant - the only way to propagate a replica of the original plant is by tuber or cutting. Of course, you can simply plant your tubers in the ground after last frost and don't need to do the warm up stage. We do this to get blooms earlier!
So many blooms!
Dahlias are prolific bloomers and will produce dozens and dozens of blooms from about mid-July through to frost. They are actually at their best late August through the fall. As your plant is working so hard to be so beautiful, you will want to fertilize at least monthly. We use a fish emulsion foliar spray but there are a lot of options that aren't so stinky. You just want to ensure you are using a fertilizer higher in phosphate to promote blooming rather than a fertilizer high in nitrogen which will promote greenery and leafing.
Protecting your blooms
The bugs and bunnies will also love your dahlias. We had bunnies munch on some dahlia
sprouts early on this season. But dahlias are resilient and they sent up new shoots and will just flower a little later. You can try and put human or pet hair around your dahlia patch (wasn't very effective for us) to deter the rabbits but we have found Bobbex Deer & Rabbit Repellent the most effective. It is harmless to wild life including your dogs and cats, but also harmless to aquatic life which is an important thing to think of in terms of run off. It smells awful (like rotten eggs), but seems to work. You just need to get your dahlias about a foot high and then the rabbits no longer seem to like the leaves.
Now let's talk about bugs. Slugs are going to be your first pest. We set up slug traps of little saucers of beer. The yeast draws them in and then the little critters can't get out. I have also heard of spreading instant coffee around your plants. There are also products like Sluggo which we opt not to use right now as our pups might ingest it, but will be effective in protecting your young plants. Once your flowers bloom, earwigs and Japanese beetles may come a calling. We walk through in the mornings and knock both into soapy water. The Japanese beetles are easier to find as they often mound together, tag teaming to destroy your leaves and petals. I do not recommend the Japanese Beetle traps as new research shows that it basically just draws more Japanese Beetles to your gardens and can also kill beneficial insects. Birds and skunks are also going to help you with the beetles.
To further protect our blooms, we wrap them in gauze bags as soon as they bud. You probably don't want to do this if you are enjoying the blooms in your garden. But our blooms are meant for you, so we protect them from insect bites on their petals.
Longer Vase Life
Unfortunately beautiful dahlias only have a vase life of about 5 days. To help attain as long a vase life as possible, we harvest them in the morning right into water and then take them up to the house and submerge the stems in hot water (as hot as the tap can produce). We then let them rest in our cool, dry and dark basement until the water becomes room temperature. This helps the dahlia hydrate and stay hydrated and we are getting about 7 days of vase life right now with flower food added to the water.
Do you have a favourite?
If so, please share! Maybe we are already growing it or can add it to our varieties next year! This year we are growing Cafe Au Lait, Thomas Edison, Cafe Au Lait Blush, Lavender Perfection, Pink Pearl, Sweet Nathalie, Cornel Brons, Doris Duke, Sweet Suzanne, Copper Boy, Linda's Baby, Breakout, Labyrinth, Fleurel, Platinum Blonde, Dikara Superb, Dark Spirit, Wizard of Oz, Center Court, Strawberry Ice and Burlesca. Coming soon to a bouquet near you. :)
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