Discover the secrets to growing gorgeous, heavily blooming Dahlias year after year! Dahlias are a fantastic way to add a late-season statement to your garden beds and containers. With large, multi-petaled blooms, these repeat flowering plants are completely delightful.
Dahlias are a fantastic addition to gardens and containers because they grow leaps and bounds each season and produce hundreds upon hundreds of flowers. From pint-sized dwarf plants, to starry-bloomed single flowers, to shockingly large ruffled blooms of dinner plate Dahlias, the number and diversity of Dahlias available for home gardeners is truly astounding.
In fact, there is a Dahlia for virtually every purpose in the garden!
- Dwarf varieties are cute as can be as a standard bedding alternative and can be used directly in the landscape or in containers where they make a semi-drought-tolerant, foot-high accent to other planting schemes.
- Collarette and single Dahlias are wonderful in beds and borders or as a container thriller, and their bright orange stamens will attract a multitude of bees.
- Larger, taller Dahlias including those with exotic spikey flowers, pom-poms, or ruffled blooms are perfect for cutting gardens where they will produce dozens upon dozens of strong-stemmed, long-lasting flowers that you can enjoy inside your home.
And even though the forms and flowers may vary, a basic understanding of Dahlias will help you grow them with confidence, no matter which ones you choose!
Here are expert answers to common questions about Dahlias:
Answers to 7 Common Questions About Dahlias
1. What are the best growing conditions for Dahlias?
Dahlias grow best in full sun and rich soil that will support their blooms. While they can grow close to other plants, giving them a bit more space will result in larger plants. Fertilize Dahlias with bone meal early in the season to produce strong stems and then fertilize them every four weeks with a bloom fertilizer during the Summer.
2. Do Dahlias need to be deadheaded?
Yes, Dahlias should be deadheaded regularly to make sure they keep producing blooms. If you don’t deadhead you might wind up with a plant that stops producing blooms, but they can be encouraged to start again if you deadhead and fertilize with a liquid bloom food. The spent flowers of Dahlias look a bit like buds, but can be differentiated by their pointed tips and squishy texture. Buds will have flat, rounded tips and are firm to the touch.
3. Which Dahlias are best for pollinators like bees?
Single varieties, collarettes, and any Dahlias that have visible orange or yellow anthers (the pollen-producing parts of a flower) are the ones that you want to plant if you’re trying to attract or support pollinators. Double flowers are beautiful but often bees can’t access the yellow pollen, or the anthers have been bred to produce extra petals instead of pollen.
4. Which Dahlias make the best cut flowers?
Double flowers like Café Au Lait and Tartan last longer in the vase than single flowers. You should look for plants or varieties with long stems before each flower, rather than dwarf options for the best cut flowers. Choose colors that will work well with the other flowers in your garden to make the most of color combos both in the landscape and in the vase!
5. Are Dahlias annuals or perennials?
You’ll always be successful when you grow Dahlias as annuals! Their rapid growth and heavy blooming make them ideal as seasonal plants added yearly to garden beds and containers. Many varieties of Dahlias can be grown as perennials, but this requires more intention on the part of the gardener. If the plants were grown from cuttings rather than tubers, they may not be able to be overwintered. However, when grown from tubers Dahlias will typically return the following year, especially if they are lifted from the ground and stored in a cool, frost-free location.
6. Is it better to grow Dahlias from bulbs (tubers) or from nursery starts?
Tubers are available earlier in the season, usually beginning in March or April, making them an attractive option for anyone who wants to plant their beds and borders early. Tubers are typically available for good cut-flower varieties of Dahlias, but fewer options are available for the full range and styles of plants. Another advantage of Dahlias grown from tubers is that they are typically more reliably perennial and easier to dig and overwinter.
However, the greatest diversity of Dahlia offerings in garden centers are available as starts from May into August and even September. Starts are how you’ll find singles, including dark-leafed dahlias, as well as dwarf options and even extra-large dinnerplate options.
7. What should I do with my Dahlia plants in the Winter?
Dahlias may be left in the soil to overwinter, but in the Pacific Northwest they can often rot during our wet Winter weather. The more reliable option for perennializing and overwintering Dahlias is to dig them up after the first frost has killed back all the above-ground growth of the plant. Using a pitch fork or pointed shovel, dig around the perimeter of the plant and gently lift the soil and roots. Clean off tubers and store them in old, dry potting soil in a shed or garage until the Spring.
Dennis’ 7 Dees Garden Centers sells Dahlia bulbs each year in Spring and many varieties of starts, including dwarf bedding plants, Dahlias for cut flowers, and even Dinnerplate Dahlias! Come visit us in store to browse our full selection of these beautiful blooming plants and find the right one for your garden!