Garden Centre

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Dahlia Delirium

My neighbour grows perfect dahlias. I don’t. In fact I don’t grow any dahlias at all because instructions like this just send me into a spin: Plunging the tubers refers to the starting of tubers at the beginning of the new season. As a rough guide tubers may be started from January onwards. Box them up using some compost or a mixture of peat and sand or Perlite and place them on a bed of sand heated by a soil warming cable. Do not cover the crown of the tuber (the junction of old stem and the fatter part of tuber) with compost and do not overwater. If you can maintain a steady temperature of about 50 degrees F your tubers will soon start to throw fresh shoots.

I’m not sure I can maintain a steady temperature in my house, let alone for dahlia tubers!

And that’s not all. How about: Stopping = pinching out the central growing tip from the plant. The term stopping is inaccurate as it actively increases the growth of side shoots and thus the plant into more vigorous growth. Stopping also affects when the plant will eventually flower; different varieties require to be stopped on different dates. The middle of June would be about average.

And that’s where I realise that I am a sub-average gardener and give up on the idea. Because much as I love the idea of being able to produce these perfect blooms, the wise gardener knows his or her own limitations and not only am I not the tidy, house-proud, diary-following gardener that these guidelines require, I am the owner of two small, agile and inquisitive terriers, and there is nothing like a terrier for knocking over, chewing, jumping on or rolling on top of a prized plant. And that’s why everything in my garden tends to be robust, resilient and spiky!

Labels: autumn colour, autumn flowers, dahlias, growing from tubers

The All Seasons Gardener at 7:12 AM 0 Comments

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