Growing Nicely

gardening, sustainability, growing food, plants and flowers.

  • Home
  • About
  • Garden Writing
  • Garden Services
    • A Garden Consultation to Reveal the Beauty of your Garden.
  • The Blog
    • Sustainable Gardening
    • Growing Food
    • Gardening & Plants
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Visits
  • Contact Me

The lowdown on growing dahlias

April 7, 2016 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

Lets focus on the now, live in the moment …..

most of the time this is a good idea, but us gardeners need to step out of that zone from time to time and plan ahead, but without getting into a frenzy, I’m taking one step at a time and focusing on dahlias.

Super trendy for their colorful, exuberent flowers and pretty easy to grow too …. remember when they were seen as old fashioned, a bit fuddy-duddy? I’ve been ordering new dahlias to add to my small collection, I want some new colours and types and spending the winter in the shed has left some of my dahlias a bit mouldy.

The lowdown on growing dahlias- dahlias flowers

Favourites from the allotment last year

The RHS Flower Show at Wisley and the Trial Fields last year, were particularly inspiring, and informative, I’m very grateful to have it almost on my doorstep.

Dahlias-trials field

Dahlias growing at the Wisley trials field last year

Dahlias-Wisley show

The Dahlia Society she at Wisley last September

sept-allotment-dahlias

Collarette dahlias at the allotment in September last year

The lowdown on growing dahlias-dahlia flower-rose jupiter

Dahlia Rose Jupiter

dahlias flowers-garden gate flower co

Port Eliot last year – dahlias at the Garden Gate Flower Companys’ workshop

The lowdown on growing dahlias:

Originally from Mexico, you can see why they like protecting from a British winter, they can be planted outside when all likelihood of frost has gone Plant them in a sunny, open place, in rich soil that doesn’t stay wet.

  • They need stakes. or some kind of support as they grow.
  • Fertiliser once a week as the flowers come, tomato feed has the right ingredients to encourage flowers.
  • Water them if it has’t rained for 3 or 4 days.
  • pick off faded flowers to encourage new ones … and that’s about it.

If you don’t have a greenhouse, they can be bought ‘garden ready’ from Halls of Haddon, who’ll send them to you at the right time for planting outside, but you need to order before 20th of April.

I’ve sent my order, so I’m moving on to the next job.

Find Halls of Heddon here, more about The Garden gate Flower company here and the Port Eliot Festival here.

Jill

all photos: Jill Anderson

Related posts:

make a bug house for pollinating insects-www.growingnicely.co.ukAttract pollinating insects & pest controllers into your garden. Default ThumbnailHow to make lavender sugar Saving seeds from your garden, Californian poppySaving seed from your garden Paperwhite narcissi ZivaThe sweet scent of Paperwhite narcissi

Related posts:

make a bug house for pollinating insects-www.growingnicely.co.ukAttract pollinating insects & pest controllers into your garden. Default ThumbnailHow to make lavender sugar Saving seeds from your garden, Californian poppySaving seed from your garden Paperwhite narcissi ZivaThe sweet scent of Paperwhite narcissi
Filed Under: Blog, Gardening, Plants

Never Miss A Post

Subscribe for updates to be delivered straight to your inbox.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

plants-gardens-growing-eating

Jill-profile image

Hello, I’m Jill Anderson.
This is where you’ll find good, solid information about gardening, growing fruit & vegetables and how to keep it all looking good.
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
The healing, calming power of nature in one photo. The healing, calming power of nature in one photo.
These wonderful autumn colours won’t be around for much longer. But that’s ok, because now is what matters, & their fleeting beauty makes them even more precious.
It’s easy to see how being among trees & nature is so beneficial for our health & wellbeing. 
Have a great Sunday.
Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it lo Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it look spectacular with this bold front door.
Today has been hard work, after a lovely time last week in Norfolk. The north coast there is spectacular. Realising these last few months, that there are so many beautiful places here. 
Have a nice evening.
Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Vis Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Visiting to see the Anish Kapoor sculptures, which are amazing, but unprepared for the beauty of the grounds & garden. 
Such a treat, worth coming to Norfolk for this alone!
Hope you’re keeping well, & managing to smile some of the time. x
P.S. more of Houghton Hall & Anish Kapoor on my stories
We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberrie We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberries, after coffee & cake, sitting in the churchyard - the cafe was full, & the churchyard is a quiet, peaceful spot..... as you’d expect.
-
One little advantage of lockdown is walking so much more, rather than using the car. Though it shouldn’t have taken something as momentous as this, for me to change bad habits 🙁
Hope you’re weekend is going well.
My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from a random clump of hazel on the garden. Now looking much better covered in winter squash plants, so you can’t see just how ramshackle it is. I like to think it has a certain home-spun charm .

Great for small space gardening, imagine how much room you need to grow these without vertical supports.

I’ve got 2 Uchiki kuri, lovely nutty flavour.
1 Turks turban, for its flamboyant shape & colours, though it also tastes good.
One unknown, grown by my grandsons in their homeschooled science lesson.
Close-ups of the squash over on my stories.
Stay cool my friends x
I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium reg I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium regale) which is flowering right outside our bedroom window. 
It gets sun for about 4 hours only, you can order the bulbs now for planting in September. It’ll reappear every year & waft delicious scent around your garden, or through your windows.
Have a very happy Monday x
It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be said for fabulous seasonal flowers that haven’t travelled thousands of miles ...... & are wonderful for biodiversity
A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-s A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-summer!) & it’s, mostly, all growing nicely.

Spinach, courgettes & garlic in shot here. 
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday x
Hope is a decision I’ve thought long & hard abou Hope is a decision
I’ve thought long & hard about how to view the tumult in the world we’re living in now. 
The only thing that works for me, is to choose hope.

It’s a tall order, but avoiding mainstream news & speculation helps avoid the anxiety, that’s often waiting in the wings.

One day soon there’ll be grandchildren clambering over this again.
Follow on Instagram

Don't miss any posts!

Enter your email address and receive notifications of new posts.

Archive

Copyright © 2021 Growing Nicely | Privacy Policy

Please note this website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent for cookies to be used. For further information on use of cookies please refer to our privacy policy Find out more.