When I first moved here I bought some perennials to add to the borders but that was before I knew that nothing does well in this garden. The soil is awful and the trees that the previous owners planted take all the moisture and it seems to be a frost pocket in winter. I don't want the trees removed as they block out the houses all around, so have given up hope of lovely colourful borders.
I hadn't bought anything for the garden, except for edibles, for ages but a lady at a recent boot sale had a huge selection of Dahlias - all colours and shapes and they looked so good that I bought one but it will be kept in a pot out on the front step. She told me to repot into a larger pot, which I did and I've got a much nicer pot for it that's a bit too big as yet.
The other instructions were to remove dead heads, feed in summer, cut back and keep in a frost proof place in winter. I seem to remember from the past ex-husbands father putting the tubers/corms (whichever) in a box of straw for winter?
Will I keep it alive? Think I need Dahlia advice.
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Dahlias brings back childhood memories of endless deadheading and earwigs all through summer, with lifting and storing in wooden seed trays over winter and replanting every spring. I love looking at dahlias, but...
ReplyDeleteI usually wait until the first frost has attacked the foliage then cut the stems back to two or three inches high, take them out of their pots and shake off as much dirt as possible. I then put them upside down in a box for a few days to allow any moisture to drain out of their stems and any moist compost on them to dry off. After that I put them in a dry box in the garage, packed around with straw or dry newspaper. It is a good idea to put a plant label in with them, if you know the variety, as if you are like me you will never remember when it comes to replanting time.
ReplyDeletei do exactly what Tracy has said. I have occasionally left them out in the pots and got away with it in mild winters…but your comment that you live in a frost pocket would suggest that’s not a good idea.
ReplyDeleteYou will probably find your tuber is much bigger than when you planted it - in which case split it and you’ll have two plants.
That's a really pretty one. Mine were in a £10 Tesco box of summer bulbs and not really worth saving, as just very basic ones. Your garden sounds a bit of a challenge.
ReplyDeleteA pretty colour. Yes, store the tuber in a frost free place and replant next year. I've got a Bishop of Llandaff growing this year, I love the dark foliage. My dad used to grow dahlias years ago, he had a garden full of them.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty dahlia. I'm not successful with them, though they're very eye-catching when 'new.'
ReplyDeleteI really like dahlias and my Dad used to grow all sorts of varieties. He always stored them in straw over the winter. Yours is coming on nicely. Catriona
ReplyDeleteI've had successes and failures with dahlias ( sounds like a catch phrase!)
ReplyDeleteSome good advice above t keep your lovely dahlia going.
Alison in Devon x
Well, you've gotten some good advice from other commenters. I'm not much of a gardener so I would be of no help to you, Sue. Good luck with the dahlias! I'm hoping to save a canna lily over winter so we will see...
ReplyDeleteI've never known how to "winter over" plants like that so dahlias (& all those like them) are annuals around here & not perennials. Good luck with yours. It sounds like potted posies are your best bet, if your soil isn't good. Love, Andrea xoxo
ReplyDeleteIf you store them in a tray covered in sand for the Winter. When they start shooting in late winter/ early spring. Take cuttings to increase your Dahlia crop.
ReplyDeleteYour dahlia is lovely.
ReplyDeleteI've never grown dahlias, but friends have. They bloom all summer which is ideal.
Having a pot of flowering plants by the front door and/or on the patio makes a nice welcome. Every year I fill a pot with annuals that flower all summer. This year, I have red blooming begonias and coleus in the shade and marigolds and zinnias in the sun. All will go into the compost after the freeze and next summer I'll plant something new.
I’ve always like dahlias but have never grown any. When you have a lot of flowering plants that needed deadheading, that chore can be all consuming and I’m not on top of it as I used to be. My husband does some, I do some and what we miss - oh well.
ReplyDeleteAlways good this time of year. I had some stunning ones, and took out and kept in a frost-free place in the shed, except the cold still did for them eventually.
ReplyDeleteI've left my dahlias in pots over the winter and they've been fine. Just cut the dahlias back and bring the pots into a shed in Oct/Nov (before first frost), DON'T water them while they overwinter, and then bring them out in spring after frost danger is past. I don't even repot them every year.
ReplyDeleteI've also overwintered the tubers -- in a box with straw, or newspaper in my case -- and that works just as well but is a little more effort.
Yes…remove from the earth in Winter…we store upside down in frost free place. Repot in spring…it’s the wet that gets them, especially if they then freeze. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI dig mine up before the first frost, put them in a box or basket with torn newspaper and put them in the basement. They multiply when planted and last year I din't pull up all of them because I knew I had more than I'd plant the next spring. Two of the four I planted are blooming . The other two are not getting enough moisture.
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