Dahlia ∗ The 10 best care tips and varieties

origin

Dahlias For many, they are part of the familiar image of their homeland. They have always had a permanent place in gardens of many generations and are currently experiencing a certain comeback. The genus originally comes from very distant lands - the Spaniards discovered it around 500 years ago in the high plains of Mexico and Guatemala and brought it from there to Europe. Even in their home regions, dahlias were traditionally valued as an ornamental flower by the Aztec natives.

blossom

The bloom is at the dahlia Certainly the most important thing for the local ornamental garden culture. Spherical, double flowers are most likely associated with dahlias - but there are very many different species within the dahlia genus, some of which also have completely different flower patterns Offer. In addition to the many lush, double flower types, there are also open, disc-shaped types such as single-flowered or star dahlias.

The typical and probably most popular filled varieties are particularly suitable for flower beds in combination with filigree ornamental grasses or for effective bouquets of cut flowers. Due to their heavy, dense abundance of petals, however, the double varieties tend to kink and may have to be supported by sticks or low hedge plantings.

Nowadays there are hardly any limits to colors for the hobby gardener. The range of countless varieties leaves hardly a nuance - only deep blue or black varieties are not part of the party.

Heyday

The flowering time of dahlias varies slightly from variety to variety, but in general they fill the garden with their splendor during the usual flowering time over the summer months. Some varieties show their first flowers as early as June, others only in the course of July. They can persist until autumn and the first frosts.

Which location is suitable?

In the garden, dahlias prefer a sunny, warm location as possible. They also like it warm on their feet. The soil should be rich in nutrients, deep, permeable and not too dry.

Planting out

Because of their relatively high nutritional requirements, you should prepare a humus-rich substrate for dahlias. Make plenty of compost at the planned planting site, Horn shavings(€ 32.93 at Amazon *) and also like manure underground. When planting the individual tubers, you should keep a distance of about 50 and 80 centimeters - depending on how big the variety is. In doing so, you bring them into the soil about twice the depth of the tuber. For better germination, you can soak the tubers in water two days before transplanting.

What is the best time to plant?

Dahlias are planted in late spring, after the last danger of frost has been averted - i.e. after the ice saints. This applies to both annual and perennial varieties.

Dahlia in a pot

If you don't have extensive beds available, you don't have to do without dahlias. They can also be grown in pots on a terrace or balcony. This even has several advantages:

• Early flowering: If you keep the dahlias in the pot anyway, you can get them used to the emerging light from early spring and get them to flower early by the end of May.
• Mobility and easy overwintering: In the pot, you can place your dahlias anywhere on the terrace, on the balcony or at seats in the garden. Of course, provided the place is sunny. A bucket with colorful dahlias is always a summery, upgrading ornament for an enjoyable stay in your own oasis. In addition, the wintering procedure is of course made much easier - instead of laboring the tubers To dig up and store, you only need to put the dahlia pot indoors when the frost breaks.
• Less risk of rot and snails: in beds, dahlias tend to rot in very wet weather. With a permanent planting place in the bed, this is difficult to prevent. If, on the other hand, you keep your dahlias in the bucket, you can determine their water supply yourself and only water enough to keep them moderately moist. Snails are also easier to keep in check with bucket culture. Standing on the terrace, the voracious pests stay away from your dahlias anyway - you also have a better overview of the plants with a tuff in the tub.

As in the bed, the substrate in the tub should also be rich in nutrients. It should also have a lot of volume - so use the largest possible planter. You can also use compost and soil Horn shavings(€ 32.93 at Amazon *) for the long-term supply of the heavily consuming dahlias. In addition, they should be fertilized regularly with a - this is very easy to do in the bucket with a normal liquid fertilizer once a week.

Overwinter

Dahlias are not frost hardy due to their origin. A separate wintering is therefore necessary in our latitudes. When growing in beds, the tubers must be dug up and stored. In autumn, wait until the flowers have lost all of their leaves and then dig up the tubers with the digging fork. Then let them dry for a few days so that they don't rot when they are stored and then put them in a box filled with sand. Put this in a cool, dry place - for example in an unheated basement room. The temperature should be around 5 ° C.

To note:

• Allow dahlias to completely peel off in autumn
• Then dig up the tubers and let them dry
• Store in a box filled with sand and place in a cool place around 5 ° C

Fertilize dahlia properly

In the bed, dahlias do best when planted with organic Slow release fertilizer supplied, i.e. by mixing ripe compost, manure and / or horn shavings into the soil. If you keep your dahlias in the bucket, you should give them a universal fertilizer every week during the growing season through the summer.

Prefer

Preferring dahlias can be worthwhile if you don't want to wait too long for flowering in summer. They often bloom much earlier with a pull-forward phase in early spring. To do this, from the end of February, put the tubers in pots and put them on the windowsill. From the 15th May you can then put them outside in the bed and look forward to the flowers soon.

Propagate dahlia

Dahlias are best propagated by cuttings or by division. With the cuttings method you have the advantage of a higher yield. Each tuber has a capacity of around 10 to 20 shoots that can be cutted.

To get cuttings, you have to drive the tubers early in the year, preferably at the end of January. To do this, put them in pots with Potting soil and leave the shoot buds exposed. Keep the soil well moist and ensure an ambient temperature of around 15 to 20 ° C.

If the tuber has sprouts after 2 to 3 weeks, simply cut it off with a clean knife and put it in separate pots with potting soil and something Rooting powder around. It is best to cover the cuttings pots with foil so that they can thrive in a warm, evenly humid microclimate. The rooting takes about two weeks. After gradually getting used to cooler temperatures and more irregular humidity, you can then place the young dahlias in the bed as usual from the ice saints.

The cutting method again at a glance:

• Drive the tuber forward from the end of January
• To do this, place in potting soil with the shoot bud exposed
• Cut off shoots and place again in pots with potting soil
• Let it take root while keeping it evenly moist and in warm, light conditions
• Plant out from the end of May

share

The much simpler but not quite as productive method of propagation is to divide the tubers. To do this, cut a tuber in half before planting it in May and make sure that each part is capable of sprouting eye owns.

Draw

Finally, dahlias can also be grown from a seed. You can either buy seeds from specialist retailers or collect them from your own plants in the garden. However, you have to pay close attention to the right time. After blooming, the seed coat will burst open by itself at some point - a sign that the seeds it contains are now ready for germination.

Carefully collect the seeds and store them over the winter. You can then sow from March in a room with a temperature of 18 to 20 ° C in a bright window seat. Keep the seeds, lightly covered with soil, in the Growing trays evenly moist, possibly also under foil. They should germinate after about 10 days. From April you can isolate them and plant them outside in May after the ice saints.

Mind you, with seed cultivation you do not get a clone of the mother plant. It is therefore possible that the daughter plants have different flower colors. It is precisely this surprise effect that is particularly appealing to many hobby gardeners and a real challenge for breeding experiments.

tip

If you want to achieve a special abundance of flowers in your dahlias, you can pinch them about 10 days after planting them out. By cutting off the individual shoot tips, the plant is encouraged to branch further and thus to multiply the flowers. In addition, you should always cut off faded flowers immediately to encourage new buds to shoot.

sorts

Dahlias are an extremely diverse genus. They systematically differentiate between 4 sections and a total of around 35 species. For the local garden culture, only the Dahlia section is actually relevant. The others, Dahlia Pseudodendron, Epiphytum and Entemophyllon, have some of them unsuitable for beds, such as liana-like or very high growth characteristics.

The Dahlia section includes 25 of its own species. There are now thousands of different cultivars with countless flower shapes and colors. For the purpose of a better overview, they are therefore again divided into 15 separate variety groups or Classes are divided, which are mainly based on the appearance of the flowers. The classes therefore often have names based on other plant flowers, such as the anemone-flowered or the orchid-flowered dahlia.

Here is a selection from the 15 groups of varieties, each with an example of the variety:

Ball dahlias

As the name suggests, the varieties of this class of dahlias show a spherical flower. They are a real classic among dahlias and it is hard to imagine traditional flower gardens without them. Ball dahlias have a vigorous habit and reach heights of around 100 to 140 cm. The class includes a very colorful variety of varieties with delicate nude tones through to bright summer colors or multi-colored structures.

The Eveline variety, for example, is white in color with delicate violet shades, while the Golden Torch variety has a rich, sun-yellow ball of flowers. Fans of ingenious play of colors within the flower might like the Jowey Joshua variety with its brick-red color with a cream-colored center.

Pompom dahlias

Characteristic of this class are the pompom-shaped, spherical, double inflorescences. They are therefore quite similar to the ball dahlias, but are not quite as large at around 80 to 100 cm. The neatly structured flower balls on the individual stems make a very decorative image. The different varieties can have very different colors - the Lipoma variety, for example, shows from June in romantic old pink to lilac colors and is also ideal as a Cut flower.

Cactus dahlias

With this variety, all those hobby gardeners who have a penchant for more exotic flower structures get their money's worth. Because the cactus dahlias with their many, spherically arranged, pointed petals give a somewhat less classic, rural, but more sophisticated image. In some varieties, the prickly-looking petal structure is enhanced by a color transition at the petal tips emphasized - for example with the Jessica variety, in which the lemon-yellow center at the ends turns into a contrasting scarlet red transforms.

Deer antler dahlias

The deer antler dahlias also show a particularly attractive flower structure with very numerous, dense, narrow-pointed petals, which, depending on the variety, are sometimes very delicate and fringed works. Here, too, there are several different color variants with contrasting tinted petal tips, such as the Anna Marie variety with a white heart and pink ends.

Star dahlias

This variety shows a slightly less abundant inflorescence - with only a few, narrow petals in Even star arrangement, they have a much more delicate appearance than the many voluminous double species. The flowers have a diameter of about 8 centimeters, the star dahlias reach a height of a good one meter. The Honka variety is a particularly distinctive representative of the star dahlias due to its sunny yellow color with an orange pistil.

Single-flowered dahlias

The eponymous simplicity of this class lies in the picture-book-like appearance of its open tubular flowers with mostly 8 clear, egg-shaped petals. Due to this open, easily accessible flower shape, the single-flowered dahlias are not only a pasture for our eyes, but also for nectar-collecting insects such as Bumblebees and bees. Their pollen supply is also very rich. The stature height varies quite strongly within the class from a very low 30 to about 150 centimeters for hedge dahlias.

The carnelian variety is one of the best-known among the single-flowered dahlias and shows light red petals with slightly fading tips around a deep yellow center.