How do I grow dahlias? Here’s what you need to know

For anyone keen to bring colour and excitement to the garden through the warmer months, dahlias could be the plants you’re looking for.  
They’re easy to grow, there are thousands of varieties to choose from, and they come in a huge range of flower shapes, sizes, colours and petal formations.  
Dahlias are all about colour, and they’re available in every hue except blue and green. They range from the palest white to some that are so dark they are called black. There are varieties with several colours in each bloom, including the stunning ‘Show and Tell’ (a huge red flower with yellow tips), and the more sedate ‘Wine and Roses’, which has pink-to-white flowers tipped with purple.  
One of the most popular dahlias globally is ‘Café au Lait’, which produces, yes, large coffee-toned flowers with a pink centre. The many-petalled blooms are bigger than even the biggest coffee cup, measuring up to 30cm across.  
Dahlia flowers come in myriad shapes and sizes, from small and round to large and spiky, and everything in between. They bloom prolifically as the weather warms (generally in late spring to early summer), with flowering extending well into autumn, making them great value in the garden and to pick for a vase.  

Dahlia facts  

When to plant

For more on choosing varieties, sourcing tubers, growing and caring for dahlias, and even how to find other dahlia-mad growers, check out our October issue, out now!  

Images: iStock 

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