Dahlias

I've been working on a dahlia post for a while, I just haven't had time to finish it until now. I feel that dahlias deserve their own post because... I LOVE DAHLIAS. This love is pretty obvious considering there's an entire bed in the garden devoted to them, the 4 crates of dahlias I had stored in the basement this winter, and all the time I spent picking them and making them into bouquets. Dahlias aren't for everyone, I know some people are intimidated by the concept of bulbs that have to be dug up and replanted every year, but for me that's part of the appeal - they are perennials that can be moved around! They multiply on their own! There are so many varieties you can find a dahlia for every spot in the garden!

I could go on and on about their virtues... but instead I'll just share my collection. 

So here's a list of all my dahlias - the height of the plant, the size of the blooms, stem length on the ones I cut for bouquets, and what's special about them. 

Belle of Barmera
Extra tall (6+ ft), dinnerplate blooms with long stems. 
These blooms are large with lots of different shades of pink. The pinks change depending on the temperatures of the growing season - they are darker in the early summer and more of a soft pink in the fall. Excellent stems for vases. 

Labyrinth
Extra tall (5-6 ft), dinnerplate blooms with medium stems. 
This is one my favorite all time dahlias, I love the shades of peach and coral and the fluttery petals. I just wish the stems were a bit longer without taking away buds of the next flowers. The stems can run a bit short compared to other dinnerplates, but they are too lovely not to include in every garden.

Fairway Spur
Extra tall (6 ft), dinnerplate blooms with long stems.
Mine is a mutation, they are supposed to have closed blossoms like Belle of Barmera and Labyrinth... but I kind of like the big center and swirly petals of mine. 

Wynn's Moonlight Sonata
Extra tall (6+ ft), dinnerplate blooms with long stems.
Colors vary from a peachy coral to a golden orange, depending on the growing temperatures. The blooms on this are so big and heavy they can make stems flop over. 

Apricot Desire
Tall (4-6 ft), dinnerplate blooms with long stems.
Depending on the growing conditions, sometimes this plant is more orange, sometimes more yellow. I have found this one to also be very sensitive to blight. 

American Dawn
Extra tall (6 ft), Medium to large blooms with long stems. A prolific bloomer.
Photos can't accurately show the number of colors in these blooms - it goes from orange to pink, to red to purple with so many different shades that sparkle a bit in the sun. In person it's magical. 

Cornel Bronze
Extra tall (6 ft), Medium pom-pom ball blooms with medium to long stems.
This dahlia starts blooming later than the others, but once it gets going it's prolific until the end of the season. These tubers also divide rapidly - I find each season I get many more plants to share! 

Daisy Duke
Extra tall (6 ft), Medium blooms with long stems.
A prolific bloomer and the bloom season is really long. It's one of the first to bloom and never tops. These also have a nice vase life. 

Thomas Edison
Extra tall (6 ft), Medium blooms with medium to long stems. 
This one is often categorized as a dinnerplate, but I think the blooms are too small to be dinnerplate class, at least on my plants. The tubers divide very rapidly on this plant and survive the winter better than any other dahlia I've had (mine was purchased 11 years ago before I knew what I was doing and it's the only survivor from that period). The tubers from the original plant are all the same shade of purple, but some plants have open collarette blooms and some have the classic blooms. It's been the ideal beginners dahlia because it's so hardy - it grows in partial shade, with minimal feeding and care, or wherever I cram a tuber in. It's a great starter dahlia. 

Preference
Tall (4-6 ft), Small to Medium blooms on short stems. A prolific bloomer.
This dahlia is perfect to dress up the garden beds with lots of peachy pink blooms... but it's not great for vases and cutting gardens due to the short stems (lesson learned for me). This year I moved two of these to my side garden beds and they are delightful there. This dahlia is sensitive to powdery mildew. 

Midnight Butterfly
Medium (3 ft), Small collarette blooms on long stems. 
I love these delicate blooms and the shorter size makes it a great front-row dahlia in the side dahlia bed. I do find this plant to be a bit more heat sensitive than some of the others - too much sun on a hot day and it wilts significantly (but bounces back in the evening). 

Totally Tangerine
Medium (3 ft), Small anemone blooms on short to medium stems. A prolific bloomer.
I love these blooms, but the stems are on the short side for vases. The short size makes it a great front-row dahlia and it's covered in blossoms every day. It's also fast growing and one of the first to bloom.

Waltzing Matilda
Medium (3 ft), Small collarette blooms on medium stems. Dark foliage.
Photos can't capture what makes these blooms special. They literally glow in the sunlight. The fluttery twisty petals are almost made of glitter, not quite red and not quite pink. The bees love these more than any other dahlia, and I think it has to do with their "glow" factor since bees can see colors we can't. This is definitely my favorite non-cutting-garden dahlia, hands down. I would happily plant an entire row of these if I had the space. 

Highschool Date
Medium (3 ft), Small collarette blooms on short to medium stems. Dark foliage.
These are new to me this year, so I'm still learning their properties, but I know they come highly recommended by other gardeners who have a deep love for this one. The bees also love these and I love the cheerful bright colors. 

Fascination
Medium (2-3 ft), Medium collarette blooms on short stems. Dark foliage.
A great filler  plant that doesn't take up too much space. The flowers are almost too big for such a short plant and the bright purple-pink color is lovely. 

Bishop of Llandaff 
Low to Medium (2 ft), small collarette blooms on short stems. Dark foliage.
Grown from seed and then carried over from year to year as a tuber. A great filler plant that doesn't take up a lot of space. 

Bishop's Children - Red
Low to Medium (2 ft), small collarette blooms on short stems. Dark foliage.
Grown from seed and then carried over from year to year as a tuber. A great filler that doesn't take up too much space. 

Bishop's Children - Purple
Low to medium (2 ft), small collarette blooms on short stems. Dark foliage.
Grown from seed, this is the only purple bishop's children I have. It looks a little red in this picture, but it's more of a deep plum in reality, compared to the burgundy of midnight butterfly. 

Gallery Pablo
Low to medium (2 ft), medium blooms on short stems. 
Gallery Pablo is a great tuber producer and survives the winter very well. During the season it's a great low filler, dependable and produces a lot of pretty blooms. It divides rapidly too. 

Random Unnamed Dahlia that seeded itself 
Medium (3 ft), small collarette orange blooms on short stems. Prolific Bloomer.
Bees love these flowers and it's covered in blooms all the time. It's the second year we've had it, it randomly showed up one day from self seeding. It's a funny little hybrid, taking on the qualities of both a short bushy dalinova covered in blooms and a taller collarette dahlia. 

Dalinovas - pink and orange
Low (1-2 ft) and bushy, lots of small blooms with super short stems. Prolific Bloomers.
I love dalinovas. They aren't good for cut flowers, but they are excellent fillers in the garden, especially in spots where spring plants have died back. They are constantly in bloom, very compact, and produce more plants every year. They overwinter well with minimal care (I literally dump them into a bag and they double in population annually). I use them in the front yard and backyard for splashes of color. These also can be used in pots with good drainage. 

Dahlia tips for those interested in growing them:

• You need to stake your dahlias. The plants look sturdy until the wind blows and then they flop onto the ground (or worse, break). I use cages AND stakes because that works best for me. Stake them when you first plant them so you don't risk damaging the tubers later with the stake. 
• You don't have to pre-start them. You can bury them right in the ground where you want them to grow. I did this for years and it worked beautifully. However, having the greenhouse and the opportunity to pre-start them in pots gives me a longer growing and blooming season. 
• Label, label, label. From the overwintering bag, to the spot where you planted them - label your dahlias so you know what is where. They all look the same until they bloom. 
• Dahlias are heavy feeders. They need good quality fertilizer (like a 5-10-10) when you plant them and then monthly throughout the season. They also need plenty of water, but with good drainage. If they sit too long in wet soil, the tubers will rot. 
• If you don't pick the blooms for a vase, you should deadhead them when the flowers are spent to encourage more blooms. 
• Dahlias will bloom until they are nipped by frost. After the first frost kills the plant, carefully dig up the tubers. Let them dry out and cure in the sun for a couple of hours to help prevent rot. 
• There are lots of ways to store the bulbs in the winter but the key requirements are cool, dry and dark. You should research the options and decide what's best for you. Personally I put the bulbs in labeled paper bags with a bit of dry potting mix, put each of those into an open plastic bag, and store them in crates in the basement. Some people wash, divide and then store the tubers in perlite or peat in bins. Or wrap them in plastic wrap. 
• Dividing tubers into more plants is easiest in the spring. You can see the eyes clearly because they enlarge and turn pink. Tubers without eyes are useless, and it takes a trained eye to see them in the fall.