Dahlias are unarguably the queens of Summer in the garden. With a stunning assortment of flower types from decorative, dinnerplate, cactus & pompon there is a variety sure to tempt everyone. If you love Dahlias as much as us then you better follow along for some flowering tips, who knows you might produce the next lot of award winning blooms at your local show!
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Dahlias are exceptionally popular and easy to grow for home gardeners however there are a few common mistakes that could be holding back your plants flowering potential. Lets explore them below:
Pest Damage- Pests can be the nemesis of your Dahlia plants. They are exceptionally vulnerable when coming out of dormancy, as the new shoots and buds are a delicious meal for those pesky snails and slugs. Protect your emerging shoots with slug pellets and set up a snail trap with beer. Better yet try out some Mr Fothergill’s Copper Tape to deter snails altogether.
Aphids can also take up residence among your dahlia plants, particularly around the fresh new leaves and flower buds. Check over your plants regularly, particularly underneath leaves for these small sap sucking critters. If you find aphids try treating with organic white oil or jetting them off with the garden hose. Better yet, try encouraging predatory insects including ladybugs by planting a beneficial insect mix. These gardeners friends will help keep aphid numbers in check.
Watering- Too much watering early on in the season can be detrimental to your dormant dahlia tubers, causing them to rot. Be sure that your soil is free-draining and improved with composts. Add in plenty of gypsum too if you have a heavy clay. Once your plants get growing they will be thirstier, be sure to keep the water up to them and you will be rewarded with some beautiful blooms.
Nutrition- It can be tempting to treat your dahlias to plenty of rich fertiliser, it’s designed to make plants grow right? It’s true that fertilisers will increase growth but be sure you are using the right product for your needs. Fertilisers rich in nitrogen will promote plenty of green growth on your plants but can favour this over the production of flowers. Hold off on the heavy feeds later in the season when it’s flowering time, and try out a feed specific for flowering plants, this will have higher levels of potassium in it to promote those amazing blooms.
Placement- In general, flowering plants perform best with adequate sunlight. It takes a lot of energy after all to create blooms, particularly those large dinnerplate dahlia flowers. Aim for a full sun area in your garden that receives at least eight hours of direct sunlight for the best flowers. Try growing in pots that you can move about the garden to chase the sun if you have a shadier block.
Maintenance Tips
Keep these extra tips in mind to really unlock your dahlias flowering potential
· When your new sprouts develop their third sets of leaves pinch the very top growth off your plant. This encourages more branching and improves the plants stability, creating strong bushy growth that will support plenty of flowers.
· Stake large plants using bamboo, florist netting or a tomato cage. This will help support large blooms and protect the plant from wind which can snap the tall branches.
· Deadhead flowers often. Removing the spent flowerheads will not only tidy up your plant but redirect energy into producing more blooms. This is the perfect excuse to harvest those flowers to display indoors!
· To improve flower displays year after year ensure you are allowing foliage to completely yellow and die back at the end of the growing season. This means all of the plants energy has been redirected into the tuber, making it more robust for next year. Once it yellows and dies off you can cut it back at soil level to tidy it up.
· In wet climates lift your dahlia tubers at the end of the season and store them somewhere cool, dark and dry so they don’t rot and disappear over the cooler months. You can replant them the following Spring for more colour come summer.
We hope these tips give you the best display of Dahlia flowers yet. Be sure to share your photos with us, we can’t get enough of these alluring blooms!
