3 minute read
Dazzling Dahlias
from Alconbury Sept 2020
by Villager Mag
Over the past few years, I’ve fallen in love with beasts and don’t take kindly to being undernourished. dahlias for their ability to provide autumn colour. The first year I planted them I didn’t mulch and the I think Dahlias are like the glamorous friend who second year the flowers were sparse and undersized. arrives late to the party, fresh and full of life, On the advice of a neighbour I fed them, mulched outshining all the other guests who are a bit tired them, and watered them through the hot season, and and past their best...or maybe that’s just me being they returned in full vigour the following year. fanciful. Dahlias come in the most amazing array of colours. Either way the vibrant colours, tactile textures and ‘Lubega Power Yellow-Orange’ sounds like a toilet stunning petal formations make the Dahlia queen of cleaner but is in fact a gloriously tropical dwarf the September garden for me. bedding dahlia which produces masses of double The dahlia originates from Mexico and there are 30 flowers well into autumn if you deadhead it regularly. species and around 20,000 cultivars! Don’t let its At 30cm you can plant it at the front of the border or exotic past fool you; it hails from high mountain in window boxes to brighten the dullest of days. regions so is happy in cool, wet, and windy Dahlia ‘Cornel Brons’ produces wonderful round conditions. It doesn’t matter what size your garden copper-coloured architectural flowers. They are longis there is a dahlia for you, from dwarf varieties to lasting and make spectacular cut flowers. They look giants. There is even one variety (Imperialis) that good in the middle of a border because they grow can reach 6m (20 feet) in the wild in its native South to 90cm. America. For gardeners who prefer a more subtle or unusual If your garden is on the exposed side, or you live in colour palette: the north then look for the pompom varieties as the Dahlia ‘Cafe aux Lait produces enormous exquisite colourful globes are very hardy, standing up to the blooms in a soft apricot-pink colour, which fade to worst of the British weather. vintage cream. It’s the perfect dahlia for creating a Dahlia bulbs are comprised of tubers. In order to focal point toward the back of the border as it grows sprout the tuber must have an ‘eye’. If you live in a to 120cm. very cold area, you can dig up the tubers at the end Dahlia ‘Creme de Cassis’ has stunning two-tone petals of the season and plant them out again the following on water lily-shaped flowers. It grows to 90cm so year. My garden is quite sheltered, so I simply cut is good for the middle of a border and also looks them down and mulch them. I learned the hard way fabulous in a big pot. that mulched dahlias survive and thrive much better than unmulched plants. Dahlia tubers are hungry Happy Gardening! 26 Please mention The Villager and Town Life when responding to adverts
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