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Dahlia: 

Great late summer flowers that thankfully are now welcomed in the most fashionable of gardens as well those of us who love beautiful flowers and couldn't give a hoot about fashion. There is an incredible range of Dahlias available and new ones are being introduced all the time - like all "hobby plants" most are breed by extraordinarily dedicated and skilled amateurs. Its not in the remit of this catalogue to review this wide and wonderful range of plants. We grow a few varieties in the our garden and we hope to be able to add some to our list during the coming years.

Dahlias love rich soil. When planting dig out a big hole and add compost and bone meal to the hole and soil you return to the hole. Large flowered varieties will need staking. Watch out for slugs and snails on very young plants. I always grow them on to about 1ft tall before planting. If you want really big flowers you will need to pinch off the side buds and leave only the main bud to develop - I don't bother, the flowers are big enough anyway. Deadhead especially in autumn as dead, wet blooms can get grey mould. Distorted, one-sided blooms are a sign of caspid bug - spray on the odd occasions it is a real and persistent problem. Tattered blooms mean earwigs are eating the flowers at night - put an upside down pot filled with straw or shredded paper on top of a cane amongst the blooms - empty our each morning and destroy any earwigs.

Cut the stems down to about 3in above the soil when frost has blackened the stems in late autumn.

Dahlias can usually be left in the soil through winter if 1) the soil is not overly wet and 2) you don't live in one of the colder regions of the UK. One benefit of digging up the tubers is that you can more easily take cuttings in spring from the part-covered tubers in a shed or greenhouse. If digging them up store in a frost-free shed in slightly moist peat or equivalent. Stand them upside down for a week or so to drain any wetness out of the stems. I then stand mine in trays 3/4 cover them.

if you really get the Dahlia bug there are local Dahlia societies you can join.

Dahlia Berger's Record: Brilliant red semi-cactus variety that always performs really well for us. About 3ft 6in tall. 

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Photo © 2006 SpecialPerennials.com

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Dahlia David Howard: Bronze leaves and large, glowing orange Decorative flowers in late summer make this one of our all-time favourites. About 3ft - 3ft 6in tall.  

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Dahlia Preference: Semi Cactus flowered variety in a delightful Cherry Blossom Pink. About 3ft tall.  

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Photo © 2009 SpecialPerennials.com