These big, beautiful flowers are perfect for your garden. They blast into different colors, sizes and shapes. They help you bring back beauty and life into your landscaping. The diversity of this herb will help you use them in different aspects of your landscaping design; and may, in some cases, reach around six feet in height.
Dahlias make for excellent cut flowers; and they end up lasting around a week in the house. The tender tubers have been seen to bloom the best when they’re planted in full sun. The best part about this flowering plant is that it will end up tolerating almost all sorts of soil. But it does, definitely, grow the best in well draining sandy soil. If you have heavy, clay like soil in your garden, you might want to lighten it up by using some sand.
These flowers are summer bloomers; and end up generally all around the country. They have to be sown during the spring; and then have to be cut back after each first killing frost.
Choosing the right varietyThere are a thousand varieties of dahlias which have been created using hybridization. Which variety and string you choose is up to your specifications. The dahlia plant will fall into the 12 inches to 8 feet category. This makes it important for you to keep in mind the available amount of space. Some of these species might actually provide for an abundance of flowers, while some others might allow you to make a bold statement when it comes to pruning and disbudding.
If you’re a newbie at this, you might want to choose a few random plants with varying sizes and colors. You could try talking to some experienced dahlia planters. They might be happy to share their experiences with you. Once you’ve seen the first of these crops, you’ll never want to stop growing them. This will also give you an idea of what variety of this flowering plant you want to choose the next year.
Plant your dahlias only after all the frost has cleared up. If the soil is excessively wet, it might end up rotting your tubers. If the weather has been stormy and wet, it might be advisable to wait for the soil to dry up.
Dig the soil and prepare around 12 inch diameter by 12 inch deep planting holes. If you mix a shovel with compost, around a handful of bone meal and a little bit of Dolomite lime. Fill the planting hole with the mixture of soil and Dolomite lime. Then place the tuber in a horizontal position. Point the eye upwards. The taller varieties will need some amount of staking.
Cover the tuber with a good 2 inches of the soil mixture that you’ve created. It would make sense to gradually add more soil mix as and when the sprout begins to emerge. When the plant achieves some sort of height, it would make sense to secure it to a stake, loosely.
Use a water soluble bloom-type fertilizer for this heavy feeding plant. If you began by planting your dahlia in a pot, you can later change it to a planting hole using the same procedure that we spoke about.
You will need to water the dahlias more often if it’s very hot. If you want to promote a compact, yet bushy growing habit amongst your plant; it would be good to pinch back the new growth when your dahlia has reached a height of about a foot high. If you are looking to grow massive flowers, you might want to settle for removal of side buds. Do this at the end of each bud; and keep at it throughout the growing season. If your aim is to provide for a continuous and extensive flower-show of sorts, you might want to remove the spent buds in a proper and prompt fashion.
Subscribe