More Dahlias in My Summer Garden
Beautiful, colorful dahlias continue to bloom at my Bedford, New York farm.
Dahlias begin to bloom with great profusion just as other plants pass their prime, and they last right up until the first frost. My all-dahlia garden was planted in a large bed behind my vegetable greenhouse and we saw our first dahlias of the season already blooming in June. We have flowers ranging from small to giant dinner-plate size in all different colors and shades - many from Swan Island Dahlias in Oregon, from Floret in the State of Washington, and from The Flower Hat, a flower farm based in Bozeman, Montana.
Here are more of the gorgeous flowers in bloom, enjoy.
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- I have already cut many dahlia flowers to decorate my home this season, but there are still many to enjoy out in the garden.
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- There are about 42 species of dahlia, with hybrids commonly grown as garden plants. A member of the Asteraceae family of dicotyledonous plants, some of its relatives include the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum, and zinnia.
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- The genus Dahlia is native to the high plains of Mexico. Some species can be found in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Costa Rica as well as parts of South America where it was introduced.
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- Dahlias were first recorded by Westerners in 1615, and were then called by their original Mexican name, acoctli. The first garden dahlias reached the United States in the early 1830s. Today, dahlias are grown all over the world. I love the many striking colors and forms.
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- It is also the official flower of both San Francisco and Seattle.
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- The Dahlia is named after the Swedish 18th century botanist Anders Dahl, who originally declared the flower a vegetable, as the tubers are edible.
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- Flowers come one head per stem. The blooms can be as small as two-inches in diameter or up to one foot across. They are divided into 10 groups: single, anemone, collarette, waterlily, decorative, fall, pompon, cactus, semi-cactus, and miscellaneous.
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- It can also vary in height, leaf color, form, and shape. This is because dahlias are octoploids, meaning they have eight sets of homologous chromosomes, whereas most plants have only two.
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- Dahlias produce an abundance of wonderful flowers throughout early summer and again in late summer until the first frost.
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- Dahlias are popularly grown for their long-lasting cut flowers. This is a cactus dahlia with its beautiful ‘spiny’ petals rolled up along more than two-thirds of its length.
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- Dahlias thrive in rich, well-drained soil with a pH level of 6.5 to 7.0 and slightly acidic.
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- The majority of dahlia species do not produce scented flowers or cultivars, but they are brightly colored to attract pollinating insects.
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- There are some 57,000 varieties of dahlia, with many new ones created each year.
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- Josephine Bonaparte, wife of the French Emperor, was so enamored of dahlias she grew prize varieties in her garden at Malmaison.
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- The dahlia was also a favorite bloom of England’s Queen Victoria.
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- Dahlias come in white, shades of pink, red, yellow, orange, shades of purple, and various combinations of these colors – every color but true blue. In the 19th century, a London newspaper offered a pound, or a little more than a dollar, to the first breeder to create a blue dahlia—the reward was never claimed, but there have been many attempts that are near-blue. Like many flower varieties, there is also no pure black variety—only dark red and dark purple. This one is white with soft lavender tips.
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- From the side, many dahlia petals grow all around the flower head giving it a very full appearance.
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- When planting dahlias, choose the location carefully – dahlias grow more blooms where they can have six to eight hours of direct sunlight.
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- And to prevent wilting, cut only in the early morning or late afternoon. And only cut them after they open to mature size – dahlias will not open after cutting.
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- This is a single dahlia with just one row of petals surrounding the center disc.
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- Here’s another dahlia just opening. I hope to still be seeing beautiful dahlia blooms through the season – maybe even until Halloween. Visit the American Dahlia Society website for the many classifications and colors. What are your favorite dahlias?
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