I gave my dahlia plants some farmyard manure this year, that seem to have helped. Some of the dahlias were able to manage the frequent slug attack in May-Jun, others succumbed. Some carry on even now like the one below with the petal edges devoured by 🐌 or slugs. Snowcap has outperformed all others as it is in the ground and is amidst the runner beans. Orange nugget not so far behind 😁 Great Silence too. This was labelled Red Runner, which it is not. Bilbao has done well in spite of not having adequate support. One of the Bishop's family Arabian night almost dried up during the heatwave; it was pruned and has started regrowing with a small flower out. A lost-label one The one above is David Howard.
Hoping that I'll be able to save these tubers for next year.
Oxford. The City of Dreaming Spires.
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils (roses). Taking a bit of liberty with Wordsworth
RoddersUK why do you think you had such a bad time with slugs this year?
@Eustace you seem to have one great guns. Beautiful pictures. I wonder why this year seems to have been a bad slug year, give it's been so dry. I am usually assaulted but it's been ok here.
It's an interesting about dahlias and strong sunshine. Temps and rainfall are other questions too. Dahlias certainly seem to like it damp over dry.
Of course in the Uk it's pretty impossible at moment to say what kind of summers we are going to have. But this is to address the question of how to grow dahlias in strong sun or high temps. They do like lots of water.
🌱
This site that dahlias can be ok up to 40oC. It says that if you are expecting temps that high then the tubers need to be planted deeper (8 inches down), so that there is a more extensive root system to support the plants. Having lots of organic matter like manure will help.
This US flower farm says that native dahlias grow happily to about 30oC. After that they say that dahlias slow down or stop. The blooms should start again as the temps fall. They say there are certain dahlia varieties which are more recommended for hot areas.
I grew Bish of Llanduff and Rip City and neither stuggled. But my plants are not in a big, hot garden or allotment with no reprieve from the sun. And they are grown in pots so are easy to water and keep an eye on moisture levels and mulch etc. It might be good to plant where the plants can have a big of shade for some of the day - from a fence or tree or such.
RoddersUK why do you think you had such a bad time with slugs this year?
Bark as a mulch perhaps......lots of hidy holes for eggs. I didn't bother with pellets (I still have old blue ones) as trying to be more environmentally friendly, but I used them in the end, so might have well as used at the start! Might have to get the new style ones, but read birds just eat those all up lol. I also had a hole in the fence, hedgehogs used to come in, but also noticed badgers! So blocked it. Wondered where the massive holes were coming from. I used to get thrushes come in the garden, haven't seen any this year.
But I'll certainly be putting mechanical barriers next year!
Question about planting a dahlia deeper - I'm assuming you can only do that if you put it straight in the ground after getting it out of its winter home? I know not all, but I feel like most people start them off in pots somewhere warm and then plant out when bigger. I guess that's not an option as then you'll be burying the foliage?
Fire mentioned Halls of Heddon in an earlier post. Their nursery is just a few miles west of Newcastle upon Tyne just off the A69. I visit regularly as they have an exceptional selection of plants other than dahlias…the point in me posting is to suggest that anyone in the area visits their huge display fields of dahlias absolutely stunning.
I suspect that if English summers have regularly high temp peaks, the problem may not so much be the temp or even sun sorch, as the dryness. As I mentioned above, it seems that dahlias can subsist in temps 30-40oC (with some afternoon shade) but what they can't do without is water. I think that this might become the limiting factor. I think perhaps that's why dahlias did so well in England - historically with gently warm, damp summers; as with plants like phlox and delphinium.
Nurseries growing dahlias in large fields need to irrigate. Even Heddons (near the Scottish border) were having problems this year with water.
I've been keeping close tabs on my own pots and watering more or less
daily, but two big Mexican Stars have now got bits of mildew - despite every best
effort. I might try a garlic spray. Mildew usually indicates the plants
got too dry at some point. I find it hard to get rid of the mould once
it's set in. Having said that, the MS have been flowering since early June, so they have done well. I will be giving them away over the winter as the blooms are often malformed and the blooms don't merit the space they take up. The one big upside is that they start flowering (in London) from May-June.
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Snowcap has outperformed all others as it is in the ground and is amidst the runner beans.
Orange nugget not so far behind 😁
Great Silence too.
This was labelled Red Runner, which it is not.
Bilbao has done well in spite of not having adequate support.
One of the Bishop's family
Arabian night almost dried up during the heatwave; it was pruned and has started regrowing with a small flower out.
A lost-label one
The one above is David Howard.
Hoping that I'll be able to save these tubers for next year.
Bark as a mulch perhaps......lots of hidy holes for eggs.
I didn't bother with pellets (I still have old blue ones) as trying to be more environmentally friendly, but I used them in the end, so might have well as used at the start! Might have to get the new style ones, but read birds just eat those all up lol.
I also had a hole in the fence, hedgehogs used to come in, but also noticed badgers! So blocked it. Wondered where the massive holes were coming from.
I used to get thrushes come in the garden, haven't seen any this year.
But I'll certainly be putting mechanical barriers next year!