I love being in the dirt. My grandmother was an incredible gardener and she handed down that love to my sister and me. We can't wait to get back in the dirt come Spring. My Garden landscape areas are not necessarily lush in most people’s terms but we live in the middle of wildland fire country and I work for a Conservation District educating landowners to keep their properties fire resilient. I know the danger of not being Firewise!
So, we have a lot of hard-scape around our place, but my vegetable garden is full of pollinator plants, aka flowers, because I don't like sharing them with the deer! Everything outside of the garden is xeriscape plantings but the pollinators love them too.
The one flower I can never get enough of and is always in my vegetable garden
is the DAHLIA.
DAHLIAS Trending or cliché? Who cares, I love them.
Intimidation is all I felt when I fell in love with Dahlias. Many years ago I went to a “Dahlia” show, it was beautiful but a little stuffy and just a little snobbish.
Think dog show except with Dahlias. There are Dahlia Societies!
My first Dahlia I purchased at a Farmer's Market in Montana, not very snobby. It was called a WSU Dahlia – maroon and grey and it was beautiful and my second one I bought in Amsterdam and was a huge splurge. Never again.
All of the rest I’ve purchased from a discount grocery store for $1.99 or less. Seriously!
"Why Dahlias Are No Longer a Vulgar Flower” by James Alexander-Sinclair.
Dahlias are a bit like Winston Churchill or John Travolta. They too have had wilderness years when nobody really understood them and they floundered about, failing to fulfill their full potential. . . .
The exact reason for their cultural exile is a little unclear.
Dahlias were included in a general clear-out of what was considered naff, alongside pampas grasses, patterned linoleum, drip-dry shirts, and hybrid tea roses. . . . This was a mistake.
Admittedly, some of the varieties are too over-the-top for a normal garden . . . . but there are so many others that to exclude them from our gardens was a crying shame. ‘Faint-hearted gardeners cannot abide the way they flaunt their brilliant clean colors.
“Use them widely” Alexander-Sinclair concludes, “and use them well, especially in autumn borders. Nothing brings as much joy to a fading summer as the dahlia: they give pep to asters, succor to late salvias, vim to verbenas, and re-assurance to grasses. Most importantly, it is almost impossible to look upon a dahlia without smiling.
Native to Mexico, Dahlias were first imported to Europe by Andreas Dahl (hence the name) as a vegetable in the 1700’s. Interest in growing them as an ornamental flower began soon after, and, in Belgium, large, double flowers were bred as early as 1815. Today there is a range of sizes and colors unmatched in other garden flowers.
"You can't always get what you want"
I love looking at all the Dahlia Catalogs in the middle of winter like most dahlia nuts but as most people have found sometimes the super rad ones are just not available.
With the resurgence and popularity of Dahlias, it is sometimes difficult to get the ones you want.
Check out this website for what's really going on with the demand for Dahlias.
So, are they hard to grow?
No, not really! One of the trickiest parts of successfully growing dahlias is storing them properly through the winter. Can you share your process and timeline for digging and storing tubers? Any special tips or tricks that you’d be willing to share with readers? Or if you're like me and spend less than $2 you may want to store only your favorites. The good news is dahlias are not super picky about their soil. To my bed I added two wheelbarrow’s full of compost from a local distributor; you could add some from a garden store, too. Each year, I mix in a little more compost, just to keep them happy and healthy. Some dahlia growers recommend adding bonemeal to your soil for the best blooms possible. That’s up to you! I have dogs (and I'm constantly battling chipmunks and packrats) so I don’t want to add any amendments that will draw any attention to my beds.
Can't wait for this beauty to bloom.
As beautiful as they are in the garden they are even more beautiful as cut flowers. Keep the blooms coming by cutting these gorgeous flowers. Remember, they are just going to be making more.
Cut the Dahlias with as long as stem as you can. Always start with a clean vase, add a small drop of chlorine to prevent bacteria. Cut flower food is not necessarily required.
If you have cut the stems just out of the garden you do not have to cut them off again. If the stems have already been dried down a bit then cut at least 1 inch from the end of the stem at a 45-degree angle.
If you really want to enjoy them as long as possible, fill the vase with fresh,
cool water after 3-4 days.
These are some of my favorite Dahlias that I've grown in my garden over the years.
Dahlias were my Mom's favorite and I had finally figured out how to transport fresh cut ones 50 miles to get them to her unscathed.
We lost our beautiful Mom recently but I will always grow Dahlias for her.
See you in the dirt-