British gardening reaches its peak expression through well-maintained Dahlias Bulbs displays. Dahlia colours brighten British gardens during the mid-summer weeks leading up to their first frost. Mexican natives found their permanent place in UK gardens due to their boundless variation in size and colour throughout the growth periods.
Getting Started with Dahlia Bulbs
Dahlia plants do not develop from bulbs which is a common misconception among gardeners. Dahlias develop from tubers which resemble multiple brown carrot segments fused at their upper end. The tubers act as food storage for the plant to facilitate its revival every spring.
Perfect Timing
During March and April, the British growing season begins. Plant your tubers indoors within pots to protect them from unpredictable late spring frosts. Fresh tubers become available at garden centres during that period, or you can achieve success through a gardening friend who divides and shares their clumps.
Planting Your Dahlias
Dahlias need sun-soaked areas because they have an intense love of sunlight. The soil needs good drainage. Work in ample compost to improve heavy clay soil textures. Set the tubers in the ground at a depth of 15cm leaving 45cm of space between each one. Adding a sturdy stake when planting helps prevent the future task of supporting collapsed plants.
Feeding and Care
Dahlias are greedy feeders. Begin with general fertiliser when planting dahlias and use tomato feed as soon as the flowers emerge. Continuing bloom growth depends on regular deadheading techniques. Snip off dead flowers and new blooms will develop in their spot.
Water deeply rather than little and often. The technique leads to plants developing deeper roots alongside overall strength. Proper mulching smells your plants moist and suppresses weed growth.
Pests and Problems
Slugs love young dahlia shoots. Provide protection for young dahlia shoots with effective barriers and traps. Earwigs attack blooms so position straw-filled inverted pots to catch them. Check them each morning.
Winter Care
One main concern stands out: Should dahlias be removed from the ground or left there through the winter season? The winter will likely not kill dahlias planted in southern England’s warm regions if you mulch them under several inches of material. Gardeners who cultivate tubers in northern regions or unprotected gardens need to carefully lift them from the soil.
After frost produces black stems lift tubers by cutting down the stalks. Apply cautious removal since tubers will bruise even under minor pressure. After removing soil from the tubers, the next step is to dry them completely before storing them in moist compost at a location free from frost.
Dividing and Multiplying
You need to divide the stored tubers during spring. When dividing tubers each fragment requires an old stem since new shoots develop from it. Cut tuber surfaces with a sharp knife before treating them with sulphur to avoid decay.
Choosing Your Dahlias
The variety is mind-boggling. Gardeners will find each style represented within the extensive variety of dahlias which includes tiny pom-poms and large ornamental, spiked cactus forms to elegant individual blooms. Dahlia heights extend between 30 centimetres and well above 2 metres.
Some fail-safe choices for beginners:
- Bishop of Llandaff: Deep red flowers, dark leaves
- Café au Lait develops huge cream blooms which people can easily cut for decorative purposes.
- Gallery Art Deco: Compact and great in pots
- Thomas Edison: Rich purple that glows in evening light
Creating Stunning Displays
Dahlias shine in mixed borders. Achieve visual interest when dahlias appear by planting them together in sets of three or five. Dahlias make spectacular cut flowers which require removing bottom leaves so stems can be submerged immediately in deep warm water after cutting.
Season-Long Show
Helena Keepers allows dahlias to produce continuous blooms throughout the season until November starting from July. The value obtained from this plant greatly surpasses foundation expectations. The flower displays produced by every tuber plant significantly exceed the bloom output of most perennial plant species.
Dahlia growers will find their hard work worthwhile because these plants compensate with seasonal blooms throughout the year. Begin by growing uncomplicated dahlia variants until you develop enough expertise to raise more diverse types. Most committed dahlia enthusiasts buy at least one new variety each year despite themselves.