Now that late summer is upon us, there are certain things we can do right now with our dahlias to insure our dahlias keep blooming well into the fall. Dahlias are actually a fall flower in most areas of the country, especially the north, and are blooming in the gardens when all other plants have finished their bloom. Our prime season in Washington State is actually September. Here are a few tips for a successful garden:
1-Don’t Fertilize anymore this season – your dahlias will not have time to absorb the fertilizer. You want them to absorb the
If your dahlias are planted in rows, 2 stakes at the end of each row works great.
fertilizer that is already in the ground and prepare themselves for winter.
2-Water Water Water – Fertilizer makes foliage and water makes blooms. It’s hard to ‘overwater’ them when they are at this late summer stage. A deep soaking 2-3 times per week will keep them blooming well into fall. Be sure that you are soaking the ground long enough so that the water is reaching the tubers. We find a 1 hour soak with a soaker hose is the most effective. Hand watering is never enough.
3-Stake for fall rains – Especially for dinnerplate dahlias. The blooms are so large and when they capture water, the weight can be too much and they can bend, break and topple over. Place your stake about 1 foot away from the dahlia stalk. Giving that space will insure that you don’t damage the tuber clump underground.
4-Weed management – Keep the weeds down so they aren’t competing with your dahlias for water and nutrients.
5-Cut the flowers – cut them, the more you cut them the more they will bloom. And cut long stems !! Our advice is to cut nothing shorter than from your elbow to the tips of your fingers, even if it means taking the side buds. Those side buds most times, do not make good cut flowers and are weaker than the center flowers. Cutting down on the plant will promote more growth and more blooms. Dahlias are work horses !!
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- Cut long stems to promote growth.
Cut long stems to promote growth. We tell people to cut 'nothing shorter than from your wrist to the tips of your fingers
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- Buckets of cut flowers
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- Cutting at our Thorp farm
