Dahlias

"DAHLIAS" by Aldo Bonini

In the pot of gold world of flowers the rainbow hues of the Dahlia crown it as queen or LA REINA in the language of Mexico where it originated. The vivacious sturdy flowers need not worry about popularity, since knowledgeable gardeners pledge fidelity each growing season to the brightly coloured members of the Dahlia family. .

The Dahlias' winning ways are due to its many faceted personality. Dahlias bloom in multicolours, stripes and in all hues from white, yellow, red, orange to a soft lavender and purple. Maybe one day the scented and elusive Blue Dahlia will be available. They grow in heights from 6 inches to 6 foot giants. Flowers are barely a petite inch wide to 14 inches across in others, petals may be long and pointed or round and button like. A gardener doesn't need a master's degree in horticulture to grow Dahlias, they prosper both in flower beds and patio containers, all the better to serve as candidates for cut flower arrangements.

The best location for your Dahlias is a full sun position, but make sure they receive 5 to 6 hours daily of sun. Positions under trees and near hedges should be avoided if possible, as your plants may grow very tall and spindly, plus they will will have to compete with them for the available nutrients and moisture. Do not pick a low-lying spot, or the bottom of a hill as Dahlias, although they love moisture, require good drainage and will not tolerate waterlogged soil.

The Dahlias will grow well in most types of soil, be it light, sandy or heavy clay. It prefers a medium loam with a ph reading of 6.5 best; excessive acidity or alkalinity may be corrected by adding peat moss or lime. On light soils dig in as much humus as possible to ensure moisture retention. Stable manure is excellent if peat moss is not available. Heavy clay will require the addition of sharp sand to help open up the soil.

Dahlias are not deep rooting, in fact as the plant develops it throws out a network of small fibrous roots just below the surface. For this a mulch is desirable as we do not want the sun to scorch these feeder roots as they search for the water and food required to produce top notch blooms. So cultivating one spit or 8 inches deep is adequate. After you have dug your soil, apply a 5-10-10 fertilizer to the soil, and rake in. This should be done 7 to 10 days before planting so that the soil will have time to settle. If we have no rain before this period, water the ground well before planting, as we want to eliminate all air pockets. If your plant roots enter these pockets, they can suffer severe setbacks and possibly die. Before you plant you must set in your stakes. I use broken hockey sticks. Why not ask your local arena to keep them for you, or you may use 1"x2" stakes, four feet long, leaving 3 feet above the ground. For Small-Poms and miniatures I reduce this to 2 feet between plants and rows.

Each grower has his own ideas about distance. My theory is that the closer together they help to hold each other up, give straighter stems and eliminates the risk of wind damage. Also I can grow more in the small area that I have available.

Once plants are established and growing, care should be taken to prevent slug damage, as they love the tender Dahlia shoots; so place 4 or 5 pellets around each plant as a precaution.

I do not apply any more granular fertilizer to the ground after the initial application, and I start my spraying program the week after my planting is completed. Prevention is always better than a cure, I spray twice weekly, once with malathion and alternate with Cygon 2E. Each time I spray I add RX15 to my solution so my plants receive foliar feed twice weekly. I continue this program until the middle of September.

Dahlias have a voracious appetite for water, so once the plants are in full growth in August, right up until the last flower show, I water every day except when it rains; for example, if it rains Sunday, Monday I do nothing; Tuesday I water. The night before you are going to cut your blooms for a show, give more water than usual, as we want the plant and petals to absorb as much water as possible. This will help the petals to stand up better, to travel and remain turgid longer.

When your plants are established and growing, you must now start a pinching out and debudding program. For exhibition purposes we only allow each plant to grow a set number of shoots, to try and insure that the blooms come as near as possible to maximum potential.

Giant or Large-pinch out after 2 sets of leaves.

Medium-pinch out after 3 sets of leaves.

Small-pinch out after 4 sets of leaves.

Miniatures and Poms-let the plants grow until the start of a bud, this happens after about 5 pairs of leaves, then pinch out the centre.

Now that you know how easy it is, I hope some of you may have been motivated to consider exhibiting Dahlias in the future. In this modern world, stress seems to be a word that we hear more each day. There is no better way to relieve stress than to relax and do some gardening. Get some dirt under your fingernails, relax by growing Dahlias.

GOOD CULTIVARS FOR GARDEN OR EXHIBITION ARE:

FORMAL DECORATIVE CACTUS AND SEMI CACTUS

Giant - Alva's Supreme, Yellow. Giant - Alfred C., Orange.

Giant - Almand's Climax, White and Lavender. Giant - Robbie Huston, Red.

Giant - Walter Hardisty, White. Giant - Dr. Les, Dark Red.

Giant - Barbara Schell, Bronze. Medium- Hamari Katrina, Yellow.

Medium- Mrs. A. Woods, Lavender. Medium- Salmon Keene, Yellow-Pink.

Medium- Evelyn Foster, White. Medium- Golden Heart, Red-Yellow.

Medium- Edna C., Yellow. Small - Cefn Glow, Orange.

Small - Nina Chester, White. Small - Match, White with Rose Tips.

Small - Yellow Homsey, Yellow. Small - The Queen, Lavender.

Small - Emie Pitt, Yellow and Pink.

Miniature- Purple Royalty, Purple.

BALL AND POMS

Ball - Crichton Honey, Golden Honey. Ball - Brookside Snowball, White. Min. Ball- Downham Royal, Purple.

Min. Ball- Nettie, Yellow.

Pom - Andrew Lockwood, Lavender. Pom - Moorplace, Dark Red.

Pom - Poppet, Orange.

All the above varieties are available from:

ROYALTY GLEN GARDENS East Royalty Charlottetown, RR3, P.E.I. CIA 717

or

FERNCLlFFE GARDENS S.S. 1, Mission, B.C. V2V 5V6

Please contact the OHS or the author if you wish to republish these articles. © Ottawa Horticultural Society

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