Autumn's Most Dramatic Bloom-The Dahlia

With the crazy heat that we have had the last few weeks, it seems like most people I talk to are ready for fall. Cooler nights and days, cozier clothes, and pumpkin spice-these are all things that seem to symbolize the change in seasons-the beautiful change of summer to fall. Most people associate the dramatic change in weather to the same dramatic change we see in the leaves but if you have never met her, you are missing out on one of the most dramatic blooms of the season- The Dahlia.

From mid July to mid September, I hold my breath and cross my fingers to get at least a few of these gorgeous stems for my market bouquets and flower subscription bouquets. Sometimes the temps adjust to my expectations but most of the time they don't so what is a wanting girl to do but wait........ So I wait until the night time temps drop to the 50s and 60s and the day time temps stay in the 70s and 80s..... then I know my girl the dahlia is going to be shooting out blooms that I will spy and snip to please myself and all the other flower people in my life waiting for just a little more bloom and beauty for their life.

In the past I have enjoyed a few bouquets of these for myself-making the pumpkin vase above was a ton of fun-except the part about scooping out an heirloom pumpkin-it was such an ordeal but it made a beautiful bouquet. Now that I think about it, I may have to do it again. Anyway, in case you didn't know dahlias can be difficult as you learn how to grow them. Even the experienced grower with years in her belt can have a terribly difficult time growing these crowd pleasers.

Most gardeners/growers start off with a single tuber they have purchased online or at a big box store. That can totally work but don't count out local growers who divide their tubers every year to sell at the local farmers market. Many local growers are great resources that will share their experience and help you troubleshoot when you are having problems growing them.

I start with planting tubers in April and have a goal to get them all planted by the end of May. This year it was June before I got all of them in the ground. Our final count landed around 900-1000. It was a lot for me. Over twice as many as I planted last year. They take up a lot of room too. They encompassed four and a half one hundred foot rows in our flower field-that's about half of our annual production field.

So the dahlias got planted and as the planting started and continued we got a lot of rain in late spring and early summer. Which is not horrible unless you have a tuber that rots when it sits in a lot of rain because the ground is so saturated that it doesn't drain. And such is life. So we lost some tubers.

As the tubers that lived grew, it was very important to stake them so they didn't fall and grow sideways. Well with all the other things going on, that only halfway happened and I still need to add string to stake some of them even now. I am just one person and sometimes everything doesn't always get done as I like. The rain came, the wind blew, some of the plants hit the ground and then the weeds came up. And I have been fighting the weeds in the dahlias tooth and nails ever since.

But the show must go on, so you just cope the best you can. Cut the plants back as far as you can to encourage better and straighter stems, but it's really out of your control sometimes. Dahlias love a cool night and day. They are native to the mountains in Mexico and despise the heat. They do love lots of water but only if the soil drains well. Are you picking up on any of this? What I am getting at it that the dahlia creates a lot of drama for growers and gardeners but when she blooms she shares her dramatic beauty with you too. I would rank her at the top in the flower diva world. I think she wouldn't mind a bit either.

The pic above shows "Linda's Baby" and "Lark's Ebb". Linda's Baby is the pink and Lark's Ebb is the yellow with pink tips. I'm hopeful that as the autumn temps roll in they will bloom like crazy. These are both ball type dahlias I believe. But there are so many types of dahlias- pom pom, ball, cactus, water lily, dinnerplate and a few more I can't remember. But I will tell you one of my favorite books about dahlias is "Discovering Dahlias" by Erin Benzakein. It's full of most everything you need to know about dahlias to get started. Part of learning how to grow dahlias is the actual growing part and learning as you go. This book will give you a great start and I reference it so many times during the year. Especially helpful is the dahlia index by color of varieties that Erin trialed on her farm. I highly recommend her book along with all the other books she has written. She has a great website as well. It's loaded with all kinds of resources for gardners or growers. Her website is floretflowers.com.

So I'll leave you with this last picture of dahlias I harvested about a week ago. I was swooning I tell you. I just hope they hurry up and get going soon because I am getting slighly impatient with them. If you want to learn more check out our dahlia workshop listings. Next week we offer a dahlia design workshop where you learn about dahlia care as well. And then the week after that, we will have our second garden club meeting and learn just about the dahlias with no arrangement workshop. If you love dahlias try to make one, you will leave with info to pull out of your back pocket when you are ready to grow them yourself. You can register for one or both of these on our website under workshop. Hope you have a great September!!