Delightful dahlias
We’ve been celebrating dahlia season here at Riverside, and their colourful blooms are currently opening up all over the garden centre. These plants really pack a punch, and with regular deadheading they will generally keep on flowering until the frosts. They come in an amazing range of flower forms, including singles, cactus, semi-cactus, pompom and waterlily. Bees and butterflies love them, particularly the more open flower types which give easy access to pollen and nectar. Unfortunately, slugs and snails are also partial to dahlias so it can be worth giving them some protection!
Dahlias can be left in the ground all year round in warm and sheltered beds (or in a pot which can be moved to a sheltered spot). Or they can be lifted in winter and the tubers stored in a frost-free place until spring. To give dahlias a head start early in the year you can plant the tubers up in pots (again in a frost-free location) and then plant them out in summer. At Riverside we start selling the tubers in our shop after Christmas, so keep an eye out then if you’d like to try growing them yourself next year.
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