Dahlias are back in fashion! No longer confined to Granny's garden, they are now the toast of the summer garden. And it is easy to see why! They come in an amazing array of colours and sizes and the blooms range from the size of buttons to the size of dinner plates. Reasonably easy to grow, with care and dead heading, they can flower from June until late September. You can start off Dahlias from tubers in the spring or buy plants from about mid May. They enjoy a spot in full sun with free draining soil. Continual dead heading in the summer months will prolong flowering.
Care should be taken at the end of the season, as they are not fully hardy and will need to be lifted and stored (upside down) in a cool place for the winter. They can then be replanted the following year.
Here are a few of my favourites: Dahlia Bishop of Llandaff: This Dahlia is gorgeous. It has a really deep wine, almost black foliage with contrasting scarlet red flowers. It grows to approximately 1m tall.
Dahlia Fascination: A beauty with semi-double pink flowers with contrasting bronze foliage. It grows to approximately 75cm and is ideal as a cut flower for the house.
Dahlia Knockout: This one packs a real punch! Luminous single yellow flowers on top or purple / black foliage. It reaches approximately 1m in height and was awarded the RHS award of Garden Merit in 2011.
Dahlia Happy Single Kiss: This recent introduction is another beautiful Dahlia. It has dark purple foliage with single coral and pink flowers with a yellow centre.
Dahlia Happy Single Wink: Another variety from the happy single range. Happy single wink has masses of red flowers with a winking red centre. Simply gorgeous!
Until next time!
Marianne Caplice, Garden Pavilion Manager
Care should be taken at the end of the season, as they are not fully hardy and will need to be lifted and stored (upside down) in a cool place for the winter. They can then be replanted the following year.
Here are a few of my favourites:
Dahlia Bishop of Llandaff: This Dahlia is gorgeous. It has a really deep wine, almost black foliage with contrasting scarlet red flowers. It grows to approximately 1m tall.
Dahlia Fascination: A beauty with semi-double pink flowers with contrasting bronze foliage. It grows to approximately 75cm and is ideal as a cut flower for the house.
Dahlia Knockout: This one packs a real punch! Luminous single yellow flowers on top or purple / black foliage. It reaches approximately 1m in height and was awarded the RHS award of Garden Merit in 2011.
Dahlia Happy Single Kiss: This recent introduction is another beautiful Dahlia. It has dark purple foliage with single coral and pink flowers with a yellow centre.
Dahlia Happy Single Wink: Another variety from the happy single range. Happy single wink has masses of red flowers with a winking red centre. Simply gorgeous!
Until next time!
Marianne Caplice, Garden Pavilion Manager 
