Digging up the Dahlias

With the extended autumn and above average warmth, it has been a little time coming, but we are now putting the Genus garden to bed. The herbaceous borders are being pruned back, weeded, and some plants lifted and stored away ready for next year. The garden here is on an exposed rise that tends to get the worst of the winter wind and any frost that might be about.

For us it is indeed the time of year to dig up our dahlias and store the tubers away from the risk of winter frost and cold Dahlias have become one of the colourful late summer stars in the Genus garden. Such a lot of bright blousy colour studding the borders - part of our autumn colour treat! One of our most favourites is Rip City, a strong and easy grower with great black-crimson flowers. We are in the process of cutting down the plants and lifting the tubers which we then leave to sit in a cold greenhouse to dry off naturally, before we brush off the soil, trim and leave to sit in trays ready for planting next year.

For many gardeners there has been a rediscovery and return to planting traditional plants such as the dahlia in the last few years. We have written before about garden fashion and gardening trends, and enjoying the beauty of dahlias is one we certainly endorse. Such a varied flower, the National Dahlia Collection based in Cornwall has over 1600 different species and cultivars including open daisy-like flowers through to the most ornate of pompoms. There is a dahlia for every soil and position it seems. Some varieties such as Dahlia coccinea are great for bees too. Considering all the pleasure they bring us, we don’t mind a little work lifting, trimming and storing these garden jewels.