dahlias

[Sparkly]

Inspired by our allotment show today. For those that grow dahlias, what varieties do you grow? What suppliers do you recommend? I am a complete novice at growing non-edible plants. I can just about cope with bedding plants, but I haven't really had an interest in other plants until now!

[Sparkly]

[saddad]

They are edibles Sparkly... the slugs love them!
;D

[dandelion]

I grow Zorro (an enormous red one)  and David Howard (orange one with bronze foliage). Both are reliable. I dig mine up in November to store in the shed, then move them to the porch in February and plant out on the plot late April.  This year I had flowers by late May. Some of my lottie neighbours leave their dahlias in the ground. They do fine, but start flowering a month later. The most important thing to remember with Dahlias is to stake them well!
I'd be happy to send you a tuber of David Howard or Zorro next spring for cost of postage.

[markfield rover]

I grow mine from seed ,they make large plants in the first year. I get seed from the National Dahlia Collection, It's
a complete mix no idea what to expect . the pkts are generous ,£2.50. Leave them in the ground too. Earrywigs love
them aswell. Easy to grow.

[sunloving]

Dahlias rule for late colour and for vase life.
My favorate this year is tarahiti ruby its a scarlet waterlily type tall (about 5ft) and does a full week in a vase. For shorter ones the gallery series are fab art decos my favorate and jescot julie both are dark oranges and gorgeous. Last year lidls did giant pack of tubers for cheap so watch out for that.

The big dahlia nursery is halls of heddon they will post you out a catelogue and then your cuttings in early may next year. I think they have a website.

Give them a whirl, take internodal cuttings from any tubers you sprout in the spring and you'll have a giant garden full . They mioght be the Bet Lynch of the flower world but they really pack a punch in the gloomy days of summer!

good luck
Sunloving

They love a well prepared bed with lots of organic matter, if you treat them well you wont have to water them at all in the summer.

[valmarg]

They are edibles Sparkly... the slugs love them!
;D

Not to mention earwigs!!

valmarg

[Sparkly]

I grow Zorro (an enormous red one)  and David Howard (orange one with bronze foliage). Both are reliable. I dig mine up in November to store in the shed, then move them to the porch in February and plant out on the plot late April.  This year I had flowers by late May. Some of my lottie neighbours leave their dahlias in the ground. They do fine, but start flowering a month later. The most important thing to remember with Dahlias is to stake them well!
I'd be happy to send you a tuber of David Howard or Zorro next spring for cost of postage.

what a lovely offer! I would love a Zoro bulb!

[Tee Gee]

There are a few pictures here of some named varieties; http://tinyurl.com/2lbqtn click on the group numbers then thumbnail to start slide show!

[dandelion]

I grow Zorro (an enormous red one)  and David Howard (orange one with bronze foliage). Both are reliable. I dig mine up in November to store in the shed, then move them to the porch in February and plant out on the plot late April.  This year I had flowers by late May. Some of my lottie neighbours leave their dahlias in the ground. They do fine, but start flowering a month later. The most important thing to remember with Dahlias is to stake them well!
I'd be happy to send you a tuber of David Howard or Zorro next spring for cost of postage.

what a lovely offer! I would love a Zoro bulb!

OK, send me a reminder in the New Year!

[Baaaaaaaa]

What to get depend on what you want and how much space you want to fill.
You can grow bush/bedding from seed ( I think the Gardeners World trial recommended Bishops Children ), or tall Giant types for a big back of border display.

There are so many different types/colours you can easily fill a good few acres. So easy to take cuttings and split tubers.

I like the big ones  like Almand's Supreme, Dr Armett, Sir Alf Ramsey, & White Alvas to list just a few.

Get mine from Winchester Growers. Their web site (http://www.wgltd.co.uk/) has loads of pictures - but I find their latest incarnation of web design difficult to navigate (unless you know exactly what your looking for).

Also try visiting the Autumn shows  - they normally have a tent full of exhibits and people to talk to.

For growing the things just do an A4A search on "dahlia"

[sawfish]

Despite what Alan Titchmarsh says I like 'Bishop of Llandaff' best. I think its lovely.