How to Make Your Dahlia Bouquets Last Even Longer

        Fall is the glory season for dahlias, and hopefully you’re harvesting fistfuls of their beautiful blossoms every few days, as we are. For us they usually last five days or so with no special treatment, but for even longer vase-life see a pro’s advice at our new Bulbs as Cut Flowers page. (Sept. 2008)

‘Kaiser Wilhelm’: Now Even Older

        German researchers have determined that ‘Kaiser Wilhelm’, one of the world’s oldest surviving dahlias and our 2007 Spring-Planted Heirloom Bulb of the Year, was introduced by Christian Deegen, the father of German dahlias, in 1881, twelve years earlier than was previously believed. Sehr gut! (Sept. 2008)

Read Scott’s “Savoring Dahlias” Article in Old House Journal

        Starting on page 24 of the June issue of Old-House Journal you’ll find Scott spreading the good word about heirloom dahlias. His article includes a list of eight favorites you can plant this spring “to enjoy 200 years of dahlia history in your own back yard.” (April 2008)

When Perennials Aren’t Enough: A Husband’s New Love

        Can the right flower strengthen your marriage? Maybe! Our good customer Audrey Kilgore of Akron, Ohio, writes: “My husband is new to the ‘Dahlia Affair’ – for what else can you call loving dahlias? He said none of our perennials lasted long enough and he wanted something tall that bloomed all summer into fall, so I thought about it. The only plant I knew that was easy to grow and filled this need was dahlias. I planted two tall ones this past summer. They were beautiful, and he counted the many butterflies and bees that visited them. He is hooked!” (March 2008)

        “Just now the dahlias are in full blow,” our British friend John Snocken wrote us last August, “and they are very good at slowing the traffic through our village. ‘Bloodstone’! How did that ever drop out of cultivation?”
        We’re big fans of ‘Bloodstone’, too, and wondered where it got its name. In Bodyguards: Protective Amulets and Charms, Desmond Morris explains that “bloodstone is a dark green stone marked with flecks of red. Small pieces of it were considered to be powerful amulets in ancient Egypt” where it was called the Blood of Isis. Greek athletes wore bloodstone talismans at the Olympic Games, and Roman gladiators and soldiers carried it into battle. Today it’s still valued for protection from “a variety of misfortunes,” including stress and lack of self-confidence, and “to help its owners develop special abilities and talents.”
        So there you go – more good reasons to plant ‘Bloodstone’ this spring! (Feb. 2008)

Link of the Month: Elegant Vases, Our Dahlias, and Martha Stewart

        We’re always looking for interesting vases, and sometimes they find us. Last month our good customer Frances Palmer of Weston, Connecticut, emailed us a few photos of our dahlias “in the garden and in my pots” — and wow! It turns out Frances is a renowned potter whose classic yet quirky tableware and vases are being featured in the February Martha Stewart Living, on newsstands now.
        “Thank you for such incredible flowers,” Frances wrote us. You can see her photos at oldhousegardens.com/FrancesPalmer.asp and more of our dahlias and her pottery at francespalmerpottery.com/FP_about.htm . Don’t miss her “whimsical pots,” including two filled with our ‘Thomas Edison’ and ‘Deuil du Roi Albert’.
       Thanks, Frances! We want one of everything you make! (Jan. 2008)

Tips for Storing Dahlias (But Only If You Want To!)

        Our best advice can always be found under Planting and Care at our website. Remember, though, that temperatures and humidity vary from region to region and even house to house, so you may have to experiment to find what works best for you. For storage recommendations from four other experts, check out dahlias.net/seabox/savem.htm at the Colorado Dahlia Society’s excellent website. And send us your tips! We’re always eager to learn. (Nov. 2007)

Praise of the Month: ‘Thomas Edison’ Dahlia

        Our good customer Kathy Winkelman of Sacramento, California, writes:
        “I just wanted you to know how great my ‘Thomas Edison’ is doing in its second year here. I have flowers six inches wide and it’s been blooming continuously for months. I share with my neighbors, and they just can’t get over how big and beautiful the flowers are. And our warm days of over 100 degrees have not seemed to bother it. It’s framed by my big window in our family room, so it’s the first thing I see in the garden every morning. I tell ya, it’s a beauty!” (Nov. 2007)

Combo of the Month: ‘Andries Orange’ and Sizzling Partners

        Our good customer Becca Brown of Worcester, Massachusetts, writes:
        “Just a note to let you know that my dahlia ‘Andries Orange’ is thrilling me and everyone else who beholds him right now in my garden. I have him planted in front of a purple-leafed cotinus with perilla at his feet, some hot colored zinnias in front, and aster ‘Alma Potschke’ (hot cherry pink) about to burst forth beside him. Also in the mix nearby: geranium ‘Rozanne’ and hot spots everywhere of neon-orange Emilia (tassel flower). Life doesn’t get much better than this! Thank you, thank you!” (Sept. 2007)

Garden Expert Says “Let Them Freeze!”

        In her lively, practical, and encouraging new book, The Way We Garden Now, Katherine Whiteside offers 41 easy “pick-and-choose projects for planting your paradise,” including three devoted to bulbs. We especially liked what she says about storing dahlias: “Misguided gardeners steer clear of dahlias because they fear the need to dig and store the tubers in winter. Guess what? No one cares if you let them freeze to death. Then you’ll have room to try different ones each year.” (Aug. 2007)

What’s Eating My Dahlias?

        We’re always learning from our customers, and several recent calls for help led us to a small pest that’s new to us — and which you may find attacking your dahlias, too. It’s called the potato leaf hopper, and apparently it’s enjoying a boom this year. It feeds on some 200 plants, including dahlias. To learn more, check out ipm.ncsu.edu/AG136/leafhop1.html. (July 2007)

Buried Pots Make Dahlia Growing and Storage Extra Easy

        Here’s a great tip offered in Fine Gardening by Lois Sheinfeld of Southampton, NY, and seconded by Steve Nowotarski writing in the American Dahlia Society Bulletin:
        “Instead of going to the trouble of digging my dahlia tubers out of the ground and storing them over the winter, I grow them in pots instead. After the top growth is killed back by frost, I easily lift the pots out of the ground and transfer them to the basement where they will be ignored until the spring. . . . I haven’t lost a dahlia yet; it’s five years and running for my exquisite ‘Bishop of Llandaff’.”
        Steve adds: “Dahlias grow well in large pots, and I have not seen a significant difference between plastic and clay. I will plant a dahlia . . . in a two-gallon plastic pot and let it get well-established before digging a hole and placing it in the garden. I bury the pot about one inch below the soil line. At the end of the season this pot can be dug easily out of the garden without damaging the roots of the dahlia or surrounding plants.” (March & April 2007)

Mmmm, What a Delicious Dahlia!

        William Woys Weaver, author of the acclaimed Heirloom Vegetable Gardening, is a great fan of our dahlias. Recently he surprised us with this tidbit: “Did you know that the tubers of your ‘Yellow Gem’ dahlia are delicious? Better than jicama. Better than yacon.” (March 2007)

‘Little Beeswings’ – Cute Dahlia, Great Song

        Most gardens are rich with significance that may elude the uninitiated. Here’s an unusual example from our good customer Debra Knapke of Columbus, Ohio:
        “Just had to write and tell how much I am enjoying ‘Little Beeswings’ dahlia. It gets a 9.5 on the cuteness scale. But I really bought it because “Beeswing” is the name of one of my favorite songs by Richard Thompson.”
        When we admitted that we didn’t know who Thompson was, Deb obliged us with a link to both his “Beesweb” website at richardthompson-music.com/bio.asp and the “Beeswing” lyrics.
        “His voice is very distinct,” Deb says, “and the song is a haunting ode about a free spirit and a doomed relationship. Heavy!” (Aug. 2006)

When Bi-Color Dahlias Aren’t: Blame the Heat

        If your purple and white ‘Deuil du Roi Albert’ is completely purple, or your silver-tipped ‘Princess de Suede’ has lost its silver, chances are it’s been hot lately. Bi-color dahlias normally vary a bit from bloom to bloom, but when the temperature goes up the varying can get extreme. In our trial garden we’ve seen blooms on a single plant of ‘Deuil du’ that are almost all white next to some that are completely purple.
        If you watch your dahlias closely, you’ll find that the colors of many of them vary as temperatures rise and fall through the growing season. Sunset-colored ‘Arab Queen’, for example, is often much more yellow when it’s hot, and ‘Kaiser Wilhelm’ shows more of its rosy shading when fall brings cooler temepratures.
        High temperatures often cause dahlias to slow their growth, too, but don’t worry. They’ll kick back into gear as temperatures cool and reward you with arm-loads of blooms in the fall. (July 2006)

Find a Spring Dahlia Sale Near You

        The annual parade of dahlia society tuber sales has begun. You can check for sale dates in your area at dahlias.net/tubersalestate.htm. These sales are an excellent way to both find dahlias that do well in your area and to get advice from expert growers. Most sales include mainly newer dahlias, but if you find an old one that we don’t offer, please let us know! (April 2006)

More Success with Dahlias in the South

        Here’s some more good news about growing dahlias where it’s HOT from our good customer Della Smith: “One of your ‘Bishop of Llandaffs’ is alive and well in zone-9 Houston, Texas! My daughter, who is a Master Gardener there, has had it return for three years now. She just leaves it in the ground over the winter and in the spring it pops back up. I was there last July, sweat box city, and it was gorgeous. I think that drainage is one of the keys for success there. It is planted in a raised bed.”
        And Judy Blackwell of zone-7 Benton, Arkansas wrote to say, “Dahlias thrive in my yard, so much so that when I inadvertently threw some away when cleaning out pots in the fall and they ended up in a nearby drainage ditch, they grew the following spring. No fertilizer, no mulch, no nothing. They bloomed all season.” (Editor’s note: Naturally we don’t recommend this technique!) (March 2006)

Can the Queen of Autumn Take Southern Heat?

        Dahlias, we’ve always said, like it cool. They bloom best in the fall, they come originally from high mountain plateaus in Mexico, and they’re great favorites in northern states like Minnesota. So for years we’ve been warning Deep South gardeners away from them. But our customers are constantly teaching us (thanks!). For tips from five who garden in zones 8 and 9 – including expert John Kreiner of the Dahlia Society of Georgia — click here. (March 2006)

Dahlias for the Hungry

        Phyllis Valle of Milford, Michigan, has been buying bulbs from us since 2000. Here’s one good reason why:
        “My friend Andrew Berry is an avid gardener, and he especially loves dahlias. I give him your bulbs for his birthday every year. In the summer he takes bouquets to his church every Sunday and they auction them off to the congregation. His wife Jayne says he averages $60 a week, all of which goes to the church’s mission for the hungry.” (March 2006)

Dahlia Survivor is King of the Compost Pile

        Our good customer Robin Schachat of zone 6/7 Brooklandville, Maryland, emailed us after reading about hardy dahlias in our December newsletter:
        “I had a lot of dahlias come back this year, too. My last season’s compost heap was crowned by a HUGE dahlia plant, probably four feet wide by three feet tall, blooming orange-red, visible at 100 yards. The effect was glorious, especially when it was surrounded by writhing vines with glowing orange gourds (another of last year’s volunteers). I wonder what I’ll get growing from this year’s heap?” (Jan. 2006)

Busy Mom Discovers Dahlias Hardy in Zone 6

        We aren’t making any promises, but our long-time customer Janet Atkinson of zone-6 Sleepy Hollow, NY, writes:
        “Your dahlias are TOO HARDY!!! 90% of the ones I got from you last year came back, which on top of this year’s collection, created quite a dahlia jungle. I’m not really complaining, but I think I may need to curb this bad dahlia-ordering habit I’m developing. I always want all of them!
        “I left all of them in the ground. Lots of good intentions, but once the kids’ soccer season starts, there’s never as much time for gardening as I would like. The ones planted against the house have come back for two years now, but last year the ones in a more exposed bed came back, too, hidden by hollyhocks so that I didn’t realize until they had swamped my oregano and mint. They look pretty fabulous though! Thanks.” (Dec. 2005)

OHG Helps National Collection of Dahlias

        Over the years, Sarah Thomas of the British National Collection of Dahlias has helped us add many great old dahlias to our catalog, and happily we’ve been able to help her, too. This spring she asked us for five dahlias she couldn’t find over there: ‘Bitsa’, ‘Gold Crown’, ‘Nita’, ‘Oreti Kirsty’, and ‘Tinker’s Tim’. We tracked them down at three different growers and sent them to the Collection in May. Yes, Sarah was delighted! (June 2005)

Matthew’s Favorite Dahlia Bouquet

        Our awesome [former] trial-garden manager Matthew Scott writes:
        “Dahlias are my favorite plant by far. They bloom for months, and in the fall when many gardens are full of yellow flowers, dahlias offer a wide array of other colors. They also make great cut flowers. For brightening up your dining room table or taking to a friend’s house, nothing is better than a big bouquet of dahlias you grew yourself.
        “Three that look especially good together in the garden or in a bouquet are purple and white ‘Deuil du Roi Albert’ (1936), cool, refreshing ‘White Fawn’ (1942), and velvety purple ‘Thomas Edison’ (1929). ‘Deuil du’s variable coloring (it’s sometimes more white, sometimes more purple) blends beautifully with the clarity of ‘White Fawn’ and the true purple of ‘Thomas Edison’. Our co-worker Ann brought in a bouquet of these three dahlias last fall and folks here were bowled over. It’s a stunning and simple combination. Give it a try!” (Feb. 2005)

See Our Dahlias in Traditional Home

        Pick up the April issue of Traditional Home magazine and you’ll find a great article by garden editor Ethne Clark titled “Dahlia Delirium.” It leads off with a full-page photo of ‘Juanita’ taken by Scott in our trial garden and wraps up with a special offer we put together just for Traditional Home readers: seven of our finest heirloom dahlias, from ‘Kaiser Wilhelm’ to ‘Kidd’s Climax’. (Feb. 2005)

‘Jersey’s Beauty’ Decorates Altar Again – 67 Years Later

        Our good customer John Dennis of Amityville, NY, writes:
        “As a gardener, I am happy to report that the ‘Jersey’s Beauty’ dahlias I ordered from you this spring have exceeded all expectations. . . .
        “But it’s as a son, not a gardener, that I really write. I had been searching for ‘Jersey’s Beauty’ ever since discovering – in the yellowed newspaper write-up of my parents’ wedding in August of 1937 – that both the church and their at-home reception had been liberally decorated with that flower. Combing all known U.S. sources, as I did for several years, turned up nothing. I was resigned to never seeing the bloom my parents, both recently departed, had specifically chosen for their happiest of days.
        “But thanks to you, the treasure is now once again blooming in Mom and Dad’s home town. Most exciting of all to me is that this year their anniversary falls on a Sunday, and the altar of the little country church in which they were married 67 years ago will once again be decorated with the self-same blooms as it was on that day, this time from my garden. My gift to them.
        “Thank you so very much for helping me close a wonderfully sentimental circle in my family’s history. I will treasure my ‘Jersey’s Beauty’ dahlias year after year, and share them as widely as possible. And be assured that I will be back for more varieties next year. New no longer has the flashy appeal it once did. How much more grateful we ought to be for Old.” (Oct. 2004)

Green Scene Spotlights Our Dahlias

        Our old dahlias grace the cover of the August edition of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Green Scene magazine, part of a wonderful article by our good customer and culinary historian, William Woys Weaver. Will says there’s a “healthy revival” of interest in old dahlias and credits it to our “tireless enthusiasm.” (Oct. 2004)

Style Alert from Garden Design: Glads and Dahlias Are Cool Again!

        In its March issue, chic Garden Design magazine offers a full-page “Guide to Plant Snobbery.” Good news: glads and dahlias are in again! ‘Bishop of Llandaff’, they write, “put dahlias on the comeback trail,” and now “the stylometer has swung 180 degrees: not only do bunches of dahlias grace the most sophisticated interiors, it is okay to own up to a weakness for panty-pink cactus forms” like our ‘Miss Rose Fletcher’. As for glads, they write that “tastemakers such as Beth Chatto, English plantswoman, returned to the long-neglected species . . . and rehabilitated the genus.” They praise Gladiolus byzantinus with its “elegantly arching stems with cerise pink flowers” and add that “even the Doris Day types are trendy again.”
        So, be cool! Order some great old glads and dahlias for spring planting! (March 2004)

Fine Gardening Spotlights Our “Antique Beauties”

        The May/June issue of Fine Gardening magazine features a great article (if we do say so ourselves) by our own Scott Kunst. It’s titled “Antique Beauties: Heirloom Dahlias, Gladiolus, and Cannas,” and it includes dramatic photos of a baker’s dozen of our very best. Check it out! (June 2003)

Who Is Bishop of Llandaff and Why Is He Living in My Garden?

        Dark-leaved, flame-bright ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ is our best-selling dahlia – but who was the bishop? In the ancient cathedral city of Llandaff (now part of Cardiff) in Wales, third-generation nurseryman Fred Treseder spent 50 years growing and breeding dahlias. One fine day in 1924 Fred presented blooms from several of his best seedlings to his good friend, the Right Reverend Joshua Pritchard Hughes, Bishop of Llandaff, and asked him to pick his favorite. An avid supporter of the temperance movement and strict in observing the Sabbath, the Bishop apparently had little interest in gardening – but he knew a fantastic flower when he saw one. Four years later his namesake won an RHS Award of Merit and by 1936 it was one of the most popular dahlias in all of England. (March 2003)

Our Customers Write: Hooray for Dahlias and Glads!

        Last month, we asked you to tell us why you do or don’t plant spring-planted bulbs. To all of you who responded, thank you! Here are bits of what you shared with us.
        “I always plant dahlias, which take the exact same amount of care as tomatoes, which of course are worth it in every garden everywhere,” says Leslie Swartz from Hollister, California. “I always plant a few glads, too, because they are foolproof – no feeding, no extra watering, planted in unamended adobe clay soil.”
        “We lived in a condo, and I found that dahlias and glads did very well in containers,” writes Kae McDonald of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. “Dahlias occasionally have a short blooming season depending on the first frost, but I have been known to cover them at night for a month to keep them blooming . . . . Starting them inside helps, too.” (Jan. 2003)

Liz’s Favorite Dahlia

        Our beloved [former] office manager Liz Rother writes:
        “‘Winsome’ first stopped me in my tracks two summers ago. Scott was growing it in the trial beds here and late afternoon sun was shining on the blooms. They absolutely glowed – intense pink, orange, and yellow all blended like some tropical drink. They gave off so much energy that I felt drawn to walk over and stand near them. I may plant an entire row of them in my front yard this spring. That’s the kind of dream that can get you through March in Michigan!” (Jan. 2003)

High Heat & Dahlias

        Though your dahlias may have stalled and looked stressed this summer, chances are they will revive in the fall – which is their glory season. They’re native to the highlands of Mexico and like it cool. For best bloom, give them plenty of water and don’t forget to fertilize. (Sept. 2002)

Red-Hot ‘Bishop’ Inspires Denver

        Rob Proctor, Director of Horticulture at the Denver Botanic Gardens, gets enthusiastic about one of our best-selling dahlias in the April 2001 issue of Country Living Gardener:
        “Behind the red-hot pokers were planted dozens of my favorite dahlia, ‘Bishop of Llandaff’. Blessed with bronze leaves and single scarlet flowers, this delightful dahlia takes credit for inspiring the whole [“Drop-Dead Red”] border [at the Gardens]. I could never find a suitable spot for it. Until now. This bishop meanders through the midsection of the border, running into cannas and cavorting with cape figwort until castor beans stop its progress.” (2001-02 catalog)

Hippopotamus Dahlias

        Henry Mitchell was one of the twentieth-century’s funniest – and wisest – garden writers. He loved plants, including many that fashionable gardeners scorned. In Henry Mitchell on Gardening, published after his death in 1993, he writes:
       “It may be true that men like bigger flowers than women do. Whenever I have seen a dahlia a foot or more in diameter, I have been lost in admiration. It makes no difference that such flowers are not ‘useful’ in a vase of blooms. Such a flower is like an elephant, a walrus, or a hippopotamus – marvelous in itself, apart from its usefulness as a watchdog or a pet.” (1999-2000 catalog)

Wave Hill “Jump Starts” the Fall Garden with Dahlias

        Led by the fearless Marco Polo Stufano, Wave Hill in the Bronx has become a fabulous, trend-setting garden – and one that embraces dahlias. In the August 1997 issue of Horticulture, Wave Hill gardener John Emmanuel writes:
       “By August . . . here at Wave Hill . . . we are in the final acts of a great opera, but the dahlias, for one, are unaware of the coming frost. They are large, leafy, and colorful . . . . They may need staking, but there isn’t a better way to jump start a tired garden in late summer, provided there is plenty of sun. While other late-blooming perennials begin to fail, the dahlias keep the party going, their colors complementing the changing foliage.” (1998-99 catalog)

For articles on other topics, see our main Newsletter Archives page.