How to Grow Dahlias

Its been a while.  Between attending night classes to get my teaching license and trying to wrap up my first year teaching high school its been a little bit hectic.  But school is out in a week and a half so there are no more excuses. 

I'm going to write about something I've been meaning to write since last summer: Dahlias.  I had a childhood friend whose mother grew fantastic dahlias under their bay window.  The blossoms ranged in color from bright pink to fiery orange.  Some blooms were small, others spanned about eight inches across. Time passed and I had mostly forgotten about this vibrant, flowering tuber until a trip to the Madrid Botanical Gardens. 

Dahlia bulbs can be purchased from about April to May.  Its best to plant them when temperatures are consistently 60 degrees or so.  Plant the tubers horizontally in the soil about 6" under.  Dahlias spread about two feet so make sure that you're spacing the tubers 48" from each other.  Once the Dahlias have started to sprout and grow, pinch back terminal buds for fuller, bushier plants.


*Remember that Dahlia tubers are not perennial.  Make sure to dig up the tubers after the first hard frost and store them in a cool dark place {such as a shoebox in the garage} with a some moist sawdust until next spring.