My other problem has always been when the combination of big, blousy and dare I say it, yes I do, vulgar dahlia flowers are all together in a messy drift. I find it too much. no I hate it.
So when my mother gave me a pretty pink and delicate pom pom dahlia in a pot last summer my heart sort of sank as I thought it would end up dead in a few months.
So it was with surprise that I really started to love this little plant, it has a delicate colour and the small blooms were just perfect. It was even more of a surprise when I found how very very easy lifting the tubers and drying them can be.
So recently, while browsing through the Sarah Raven seed catalogue I was rather captivated by the dahlia section. Rather pretty combinations.
Maybe it is those gardeners that like to specialise in just one species that has turned me from dahlias, too much of a good thing can become massively overdone for me and I find it a little bit like the woman that has 30 cats (apologies to all those readers with 30 cats :-)). What seems to make any flower look good is the combination with other species that compliment it's form or colour and with that in mind I have been wondering for the first time if I should maybe try again with this flower that I have avoided.
maybe....
I have one Bishop of Llandaff which is the focal point of a flower bed and which I love.
ReplyDeleteAndd you have just reminded me I have not yet lifted it!!!
Bishop of Llandaff is a rather lovely one I admit.
DeleteI always think of them as " old lady flowers"
ReplyDeleteI think many of us have a love/hate relationship with dahlias. I like their opulence but when there are too many of them, you feel like you are having indigestion! I also have problem keeping them over the winter as the place I store them tends to get too humid. I tend to have a few, spend a few years without any, then buy new ones. I am due to get a few new ones this spring!
ReplyDeleteI have 30 cats and I am very offended!
ReplyDeleteI plant bishop of lllandaff in amongst my vegetables. I LOVE this dahlia !
ReplyDeleteGillx
I love your new Singing Gardener name :o) Your work web site is ace.
ReplyDeleteBitten by the dahlia bug. I tend to grow a few in pots each year, then discard them rather than lifting them and buy fresh or grow from seed each year. There's some really lovely varieties and some of the colours really zing.
ReplyDeleteHi Dan, I love dahlias though I shy away from more blousey ones. I grow them in a 'tropical' border where they compliment foliage plants really well I think. And there is no reason to lift them in autumn. As long as you mulch them they should sail through winter quite happily. Thank you so much for listing me as a favourite blog - your rate of posting is breath-taking! Dave
ReplyDeleteYou're the first person to say I could get away with not lifting the dahlias! I've just bought three different ones for this summer, in the deep red shades.
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