This is when you need to dead head dahlias – it is when the spent flower head is pointed .

Not the most beautiful image – but an important one !

Through cutting these spent flower heads back , it will promote more flower heads to be formed over the growing season.

When dahlias flower heads are rounded, just wait for them to unfurl.

This may well sound like particularly basic information, but I didn’t know the difference when I started growing them. So I hope it proves of some use.

About four years ago, I bought some mixed seed (from Sarah Raven seeds) I was amazed that by sowing in March, provided beautiful flowers from late July right through to the first frosts. I was instantaneously horticulturally hooked, and have been fascinated about dahlias ever since.

All these images are from early October 2020.

After the first frost causes the foliage to blacken, they will be dug up and overwintered in our frost free greenhouse. I could choose to leave them in the ground, with a deep mulch to protect the tubers, but I prefer to bring them inside to overwinter.

Once in the greenhouse they will be cut back (to around 10 cm) and the plants will be turned upside down, to let any moisture drain out of the hollow stems. If I didn’t do this the tubers could easily rot off, and I would be bereft of dahlias for the following year.

Once the tubers are really dry, they will be stored in insulated boxes ( old polystyrene mushroom boxes from our local greengrocers are perfect ) They will then sit for the next few months in dry compost, in a frost free place.

I tend to check on them every month throughout winter, just to make sure, there is no rot and then come March, they will start to send out new shoots from the top of the tubers. It is then that they will be repotted into individual containers.

Some dahlias still in polystyrene boxes and others in larger containers growing on in the greenhouse in early spring 2020.
Dahlias planted outside – along with sunflowers in late May .

They were planted through a really deep mulch, and have not been watered once . To say they have been floriferous , is a definite understatement. It is all down to my new approach of soil management No Dig .

My main mishap, was to over fill the flower beds, and not provide plant support. This is easily resolvable for next year, it will just take a little more planning and staking on my part.

The images below are from a Thompson and Morgan dahlia ” Black Beauty ” This is my favourite, due to its really simple petal formation, and colour.

Propagating dahlias from seed, produces different coloured flowers from the parent plant from which the seed was taken from. With this in mind, I am presently saving seed, from the above plant, which will be sown in early spring 2021. I am truly intrigued to see, what new colours might be achieved.

Dahlia seed saved from the Thompson and Morgan Dahlia Black Beauty.

Just to let you know – if I took a vegetative cutting ( such as a stem, or a section of the tuber) the result would be a flower, that was identical to the flower from the parent plant . As much as I love my existing dahlias, I would love to see some new colours.

Why do I choose to garden with Dahlias ?

I choose to fill my garden with flowers and ornamental grasses, and dahlias play an important role within my chosen mix of plants.

I find myself perpetually working on an idea of creating a garden that resembles a well woven and gently blended tapestry, with the occasional pop of colour. I find dahlias are really useful at providing that pop !

I tend to choose smaller dahlias with a more open petal formation, rather than the large plate size ones, which might be too visually overpowering. As much as I do really like these big dahlias, my garden is really quite small, and I prefer to have everything working together as one, rather than having specific focal” show stopping” plants.

Dahlias are a really important element of my garden. They provide a really subtle role in providing colour, that drifts throughout my garden, and I cannot imagine gardening without them. I find the range of colours captivating.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog, and that it might make you think about growing some flowers for yourself next year. One of the best things about growing plants, is that you can fill both your garden and kitchen window cills with your own personal favourite choice .