Dahlias: A bright spot in the garden

BY SARAH COLBURN | STAFF WRITER

COLD SPRING – Every April, Sandy Hansen goes down to the fruit cellar to retrieve her labeled cardboard box filled with peat moss. Sitting amongst the moss are some of her favorite things in the world, dahlia bulbs. She plants the bulbs indoors in pots at the beginning of April and, as soon as the frost clears, she plants them outside. Come June, her yard is brimming with color –deep orange and yellow combinations that she said “are as cute as can be,” multiple shades of pink that deepen in the middle, and even a dark burgundy.

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PHOTO SUMITTED

Sandy Hanson tends to her dahlias at her home in Cold Spring. Hansen is a Stearns County Master Gardener who enjoys caring for the tender bulbs, keeping them over winter and replanting them each spring.

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continue their colorful shows.

The taller varieties need to be staked as they grow. Her 6-foot variety spreads to around 20 inches and a heavy rain or strong wind will knock down the blooms if she doesn’t keep them tied up. During the course of the summer, she checks on them a few times as they continue to grow, tying up the shorter stalks as they get taller.

“When they’re at their full height, it doesn’t take much to knock them down, but

I think they’re worth it,” she said.

Hansen started her dahlia kick after going on some garden tours and realizing how many different varieties and colors are available. The tours, her retirement, and her love of gardening sparked her to become a University of Minnesota Master Gardener four years ago.

“I retired and it was always one of my goals to get involved more with gardening,” she said.

She met a master gardener at the gym, researched the group al flower beds. Then, she’ll start giving them away.