Dahlia Flower season is at full speed, and your dahlias will continue to bloom until you get a freeze in your area or the cool, wet fall weather moves in. Dahlias are a fall flower in areas in the north and central United States, blooming when other plants have finished their bloom, the dahlias finish the season with their colorful blooms. You’ve done the work, now enjoy those blooms and cut them.
Tips to keep your dahlia plants blooming:
Keep your plants well watered. Water will create more blooms. It’s better to water fewer days, but deep soak, than it is to run your system for shorter times. It doesn’t saturate and water the dahlias like a soaker hose or other method of deep watering. Hand watering is never enough.
Cut your flowers, the more you cut them the more they will bloom. Plus it takes some weight of your plant, making it a more manageable plant.
Cut a stem no shorter than from your elbow to the tips of your fingers, even if it means taking the side buds. The side flowers are weak flowers.
Always cut right above a leaf, this will promote more growth from your dahlias.
No more fertilizing for the rest of the season. There’s not enough time for the dahlias to absorb the fertilizer and you want to let them finish out the fall, grow tubers and be ready to go dormant this fall when it freezes.
When is the best time of day to cut the flowers?:
In the morning when the temperature is cool. Cut the flowers and put the stems directly into a bucket of water. Cutting in the heat of the day will cause the flowers to not last as many days in the vase.
Tips on getting a long vase life:
Dahlias last around 5-7 days after they are cut. When arranging in a vase, use flower food in your water if you have it available. This will give your flowers an extra day or two. Arrange your flowers in a cool space and always re-snip your stem before you put the stem in a vase. Never let the stem sit out of water for more than a minute without re-snipping. More than a minute causes air bubbles to get up in the stem, and not allow for the flower to absorb the water.
For more information on growing great dahlias, please visit our Dahlia Care page.
Dahlia Barn is Open on the Weekends for our Annual Flower Festival
