As all good gardeners know, constant weeding is vital in the growth of all top-quality flowers, including dahlias. Then too, the soil must be kept loose and fluffy, especially after every heavy rain.
It is also important to keep the plants well-watered during dry spells. Watch your soil carefully, and when it needs water, do not sprinkle the foliage, but give the ground a good soaking, to a depth of eight inches, with an open hose.
Conditioning the Soil
Every three years, we dig in a heavy layer of two or three-year-old cow manure when preparing the beds in late April. In the intervening years, Winter rye is planted in the Fall and turned under in the Spring.
Pre-Planting Winter Rye
Before planting the rye, compost is dug into the beds, at the rate of one large wheelbarrow for an area of three by 40 feet.
Spring
When digging in the rye in the Spring, I find it easiest to remove a good-sized bucket of earth from one end of the bed to make a small starter trench; into this, the rye is turned.
June
For additional feeding, each plant is given a tomato can of cow-manure juice in late June. This stimulant is made by soaking dry cow manure in an ash can of water overnight.
July
On the 10th of July, each plant is given a handful of ground limestone which is worked into the soil to reduce the acidity and release the available food elements in the soil.
August
However, it is not advisable to use fertilizer and limestone together. During the last week of August, a handful of 5-10-5 and wood ashes, or merely 5-10-5, is worked around each plant about eight inches away from the stem.
September
After Labor Day, cultivation of the soil is not desirable since the feeder roots are near the surface. Then, too, it is necessary to keep the soil solid and firm around the roots and stakes to guard against the hazards of the fall storms.
The Art of Tying Dahlias
The matter of tying dahlias to their stakes is of prime importance. It is good practice to tie them to the poles when they are about a foot high.
Loop soft twine around the pole twice to anchor it; then loop it around the main stein once and tie it. A double loop around the stem tends to choke off the stem as it grows thicker.
Eventually, the main stems get a second tie to keep them from twisting around the poles in heavy winds. The laterals are pulled in and tied as they develop.
For Large Varieties
Each lateral of the large varieties gets a single tie. Never do I take in two or three laterals with one tie.
However, this practice differs from the miniatures. When they get bushy, they are tied loosely in groups.
The plants are brought together gracefully with four quarter ties –one tie for each quadrant, brought in loosely for a natural effect.
Arrangement of Types
The dahlias in our garden are arranged in groups where the various types are grown on separate terraces.
Hence the formals, informal, cactus, large semi-cactus, miniatures, dwarfs, and pompons can be enjoyed for their beauty.
There are three distinct groups among the miniatures, planted according to height.
In all, the garden contains about seven hundred miniatures, poms and dwarfs, and about a thousand plants of the large kinds, representing approximately three hundred and fifty different varieties.
The longer I work with dahlias, the more I like the small-flowering types. Small dahlias are particularly attractive for cutting, whereas the exhibition-size blooms are too large for use in the average home.
Flowers over six inches in diameter form an arrangement that is out of scale in most settings.
Stunning Group of Poms
A stunning group of poms can be made with the fiery-red Atom or Bobby Lee Dribble, Brass Button, a light yellow, and honey, primrose-yellow edged with red.
Incidentally, the smallest poms are one and one-quarter to one and three-quarter inches in diameter.
Effective Combination of Miniatures
Another effective combination among the miniatures includes:
- McKay’s Purity, a white formal;
- Little Nemo, a crimson formal tipped with white;
- American Jubilant, an informal of cherry-red; and
- Forest Fire Jr., an informal that is yellow, veined with red.
Favorite Miniature Varieties
Some of my other favorite miniatures are:
- Little Miss Prim, a pink cactus;
- Du-bonnet, ox-blood red, semi-cactus;
- Little Diamond, violet-rose with yellow shading at the center;
- Snowsprite, white semi-cactus;
- Bishop of Llandaff, scarlet with garnet center;
- Pink Lassie, soft rose pink with cream shading toward the center; and
- La Cierva, collarette of cardinal-crimson with a white collar.
A pleasing trio of dwarf dahlias are those prolific bloomers bearing 30 to 40 flowers continuously:
- Easter Greeting, a creamy white semi-cactus;
- Gerda, a deep, violet-rose informal; and
- Kate, a cardinal-red formal
These produce three to four-inch blooms and grow about one-and-a-half to two feet high.
Types of Small Flowers
Some of the other types of small flowers particularly good for cutting are;
- Singles: Paul’s White, Newport Wonder, Nash’s Judy, Aurora Christina, and Marshall’s Gloria;
- Collarettes: Coincidence, Giant of Fruitvale, La Cierva, and Erica;
- Orchid types: Dahliadel Twinkle, Imp, Dahlia-del Whisper, Lone Star, and Verona Twinkle
- Peony types: Pink Lassie, Bishop of Llandaff, Scarlet Bedder; and
- Anemone types: Siemen Doorenbos Vera Higgins.
Dwarfs were originally used for landscape effects, but a number of the miniatures are more desirable.
They are easier to grow and can be obtained in varying heights suitable for middle or background plantings.
Then, too, the wide range of colors in the miniature class makes it ideal for use in beds or border plantings.
41419 by Dr. AE Nash