The 25 varieties of dahlias I'm growing this season because who can forget last fall's cottage garden? Plus the dahlia growing tips I learned from the Dahlia Society.
Behold last year's English Cottage Garden. I really felt like it was missing one thing. A few more dahlias.
I was warned several times that dahlia people are loons. That they care about dahlias in a way no one should care about anything that doesn't have arms, legs or come in BBQ flavour. I just shrugged it off, because the way I see it, if you're going to be incredibly dedicated to anything you have to be a bit of a nutter.
Comi Con people are nuts too. Breeders of hairless cats? Complete lunatics. Collectors of fossils? Weirdos.
I didn't care if dahlia people were an unhinged gang of petal pushing obsessives. Why did I not care?
- Loons are the most interesting of people and far superior than someone who has no interest in anything.
- I was never going to become one of them. I mean, I like dahlias, but I'm not like them.
And then I found myself on a 3 hour ZOOM meeting with my local dahlia society not only unwilling but actually UNABLE to leave the meeting early. I couldn't. What if they mentioned some great planting technique? Or fertilizer? Or variety?
What if I missed out on some little or small piece of information that would reallyyyyyyy open up the world of dahlias to me? What THEN???
Also, I think 25 varieties is, like, a good start, you know, but really more of a jumping off point than an obsession.
Oh shit. Shit shit shit.
If I had 25 varieties of cheese in my fridge I would definitely consider that being cheese obsessed.
karen on recognizing she might have a problem.
It was nearing the end of hour 3 that it hit me.
I was one of them. On a much smaller, much less impressive scale, I was one of them and I don't even know when it happened. This is how cults form. You know that right?
Consider this my coming out, as I introduce you to the 25 varieties of dahlias I will be growing this year. The majority of them were purchased from The Hamilton and District Chrysanthemum & Dahlia Society. I have not heard the word "Chrysanthemum" uttered a single time in any of the meetings or correspondence with the society so I suspect they just threw that in there give the impression we're all perfectly normal with many interests outside of dahlias.
The Dahlia Varieties
I get asked fairly often where I get my dahlia tubers from and I'll say it again - I joined my local dahlia society partly because it's the best place to get unusual or rare dahlia tubers.
Check the Internet to see if you have a local society. As I may have mentioned before, dahlia people are quite enthusiastic about dahlias and will be more than happy to share tubers and information.
If you're in Canada you can even join my local dahlia society which has more members in the American Dahlia Society than any other dahlia society in Canada.
Varieties 1-5. Hollyhill Spider Woman, Labyrinth, Alfred C, Roque Starburst, Jess Lynn.
Varieties 6-9. Gitt's Attention, Woodland's Wildthing, Sandra, Trooper Dan
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Varieties 10-14. Pam Howden, Ivanetti, Zorro, Verone's Obsidian, Triple Lee Dee
Varieties 15-19. Hart's Dr. McMurray, Wine Eyed Jill, Petra's Wedding, Hilltop Lost Treasure, Alpen Cherub (I'm REALLY excited for this one)
Varieties 20-25. Totally Tangerine, Yvonne, Cornell Bronze, Parkland Tribute, Narrow's Erica, Dollarama Black (not it's official name obviously, but it's what I'm calling it)
Like I said, part of the reason to join your local dahlia society is to get your hands on hard to find tubers. This is especially true in Canada where tubers aren't as widely available as they are in the United States.
The other good reason to join a society is for the tips and tricks. These are people who know what they're doing. And some of the society members will have been growing dahlias for decades.
In my local dahlia society they've bred their own varieties of dahlias, most notably the variety Colleen Mooney from breeder John Mooney who lives a few kilometers away from me. It won the small decorative dahlia class from the American Dahlia Society.
Here are the top 3 tips I learned in our spring meeting.
Simple Dahlia Growing Tips
- Add a small handful of lawn fertilizer (30-0-2) to the planting hole when putting them in the ground.
- Plant your dahlias so the eye is 5" below the soil surface.
- If you want show quality blooms, pinch off all but 1 of the sprouted eyes. If you just want a big SHOW of dahlias, you can leave the extra sprouts.
And in closing, my own little tip for you - Don't ever think it can't happen to you.
Marguerite Roberts
Condolences on becoming a dahlia nut. I am a member of the very same club (about 5 years or so, but growing dahlias for about 15). I always attend the zoom meetings but because I have a cold room in my house, I am able to just dig the tubers up after the first frost, then, with brute force and ignorance, I hoik them into the basement cold room. None of that other stuff goes on. No cleaning, no curing, no dividing. Don't get me wrong. I'm not at all sensible. I just have WAY too much stuff to do in the fall. Because the cold room stays above 4C, I just come back March 1st and divide them and plant them under lights in my basement grow-op. I do not fertilize them till they are planted outdoors. That's because they will get aphids if you do. Plant outside May 7 - 15 or so. The flowers are bigger than my head. I'm not a competitive sort...likely a good thing. So I just grow bales of enormous flowers. Brute force. Ignorance. And keep it simple, I say...never sensible.
Karen
LOL, well hello fellow member! You should mention your storage method in the ZOOM meetings! EVERYBODY does it differently. I think Mike and everyone would be interested to hear about it. ~ karen! ps if I could add anything to my house, it would be a root cellar. Or fruit cellar as it was known in the house I grew up in. :) ~ karen!
Katt Hunsaker
Dahlias are like chickens, you start with 6, and the next year you have 25. (I’m hoarding both)
Karen
Both can also randomly die, seemingly overnight, lol. ~ karen!
Karen White
I love your gardening posts. Your choices of varieties are always inspiring. I’m sure I will pick similar ones next year after seeing your blooms!
My interest in dahlias started with 3 Garden store varieties. This year I have almost 40. The world of buying dahlia tubers seems more and more cutthroat every year, even here in the US so maybe I need to join my local society too :)
Glad to hear the recommendation about the fertilizer. I have had issues every season getting my plants to look healthy in my harsh climate and I know I haven’t done a great job feeding them. Will try to do better.
Happy growing!! Thanks for sharing.
Karen
Thanks Karen! I'm no professional dahlia grower, just an amateur, but the dahlia society has taught me decades and decades of knowledge. :) I recommend joining yours. ~ karen!
Jennifer
I’m curious about the photo of the 3 trays with tubers in them. Is that how you get your dahlias started early? Or is that a photo of your tubers growing eyes so you can do cuttings?
I pot up all my tubers for an early start but it takes a lot of soil and covered space.
Barbara Tilden
Any advice on staking dahlias? Mine are against a wall - no fence.Thanks!
Barbara