September | 2013 | Get The Dirt

Dahlia ‘Nick Sr.’

I’ve been gardening for more years than I care to count and I’ve NEVER ever grown dahlias. Dunno why… they just never particularly interested me. And then there was the hassle of digging up the tubers (?) each year and storing them. Nope, not for me! Then I ordered some plants online, and when the box arrived they’d also tossed in 3 free dahlia tubers.

Well, you can’t throw away free plants – oh, maybe you can, but I have a hard time doing that. So I planted them in a spot I use for holding plants that don’t have a home in the garden yet.

Dahlia ‘Babylon Roze’

Dahlia ‘Razzle Dazzle’

All three have done so well, with so little attention. I did plant them, but really didn’t care too much if they survived or not. All three are between 4-5′ tall. Razzle Dazzle and Babylon Roze have been blooming since mid August.

The first blossom of Nick Sr. started opening earlier this week. It looked like some sort of mutant, but by yesterday I picked it and brought it in to enjoy. I’ve been carrying it around the house from room to room so I can look at it where ever I am. As you can see by the picture above, Nick Sr. is a wild looking thing, petals of rosy red tops and pale yellow undersides. It is the size of a small cantaloup! The petals twist and turn in a wild array, reminding me of a piece of Chihuly glass sculpture.

The other two are more classic dahlia looking.

I guess I’ll dig them up in the fall, store them, and next year I’ll find a place in the back of the border where they can show off. A significant plus seems to be that they take the heat, I rarely watered them, and, best of all, the bunnies didn’t show any interest in them – yay!

It’s nice to have such lovely blooms in Aug/Sept, huh? Do you grow dahlias? Any tips for me?