Our Dahlia Story

Linda and I have had Dahlia in our gardens for awhile but this year, we stepped it up a notch. It started with my bright idea mid-winter to order 49 varieties of Dahlia, three tubers each. All I can say is that winters here are a long time to go without gardening and some decisions are made under the influence of cabin fever! It really got interesting in Spring when Saskatchewan had its' first rainy season that seemed to never stop.

For reasons I will detail in a future post, I cannot dig my soil when it is wet. The result is concrete chunks that nothing could grow in. Amending my soil when wet is equally disasterous. Coupled with my short season, this meant that most of my new dahlia were going to wither without ever being given a chance. It would have been tragic if Linda and Judy had not jumped in to save the day.

I planted Dahlia on every day I could until it was clear it was getting too late in my season. About this time, I was invited to visit Linda and accepted. I then took one of each unplanted variety to my friend Judy's in the city. She planted them in her garden while I was gone. I took one of each variety and popped them into pots in my garden and left them in my husband's care. I took the last of each variety in my suitcase to Linda. She and Kelly planted them in her garden while I was visiting. My hope is that at least one of each variety will survive in one of these places and we will all exchange next Fall or the following Spring, eventually leaving each of us with all varieties. Or, at least, all the varieties we each decide we want to grow.

It is late for Dahlia to be starting but in our gardens, this year, they are. A few are blooming, many are budding up and all three of us are hopeful for late frost. The result is that Dahlia seem to be all we talk about lately. New flower forms, sizes and colours have generated a fresh excitement for my garden in the last few weeks.

I will start with Dahlia 'Hot Lips' which is the collarette above. It opens deep, deep red and fades to an orange-red that is not as dark but is twice as bright. Height was listed as 3.5' but it is much closer to 4' in my garden. Flowers seem to range between 3.5" and 4". I want to say it is one of my favourites but I am already in danger of making them all favourites.

One of the things I have noticed about the few Dahlia that have opened so far is that they do change colour very quickly after opening. Each individual flower lasts a long time but they do not seem to open true to the mature flower colour. Of course, what I notice in this odd weather year may not be the same as what I notice next year. This is what gardening is all about for me. The discovery. I am looking forward to more and more Dahlia discoveries. Since they will not all bloom for me this year before frost, that excitement will carry over into next season. I am already anticipating it!