Inspiration

All about February’s flower of the month: Dahlias

Dahlias are the national flower of Mexico and come in an array of vibrant colours. Discover how you can grow and enjoy these beautiful flowers at home

Dahlias

All about February’s flower of the month: Dahlias

For this arrangement, we have used different types, including cactus, waterlily and dinner plate dahlias. This is a simple but effective way to style the blooms, or you can arrange them with complementary flowers or foliage. Dahlias will need to have their water changed daily, and typically last five to seven days.

We used to call them nana flowers, but now these long-flowering Mexican perennials are appearing in all the right gardens, especially varieties with vibrant colours and fancy shapes. Dahlias need plenty of sun and shelter from wind, as well as fertile soil with good drainage. Planting seed or tubers now means your dahlias should be in flower by autumn.

Water regularly after planting and stake the tall varieties to avoid wind damage. Gardeners living in frosty places should lift dahlia tubers before winter and store them in a dry place until you can plant them out in spring. Don’t plant too early in the south; wait until around October when the soil has warmed up enough to ensure frost or wet ground won’t kill the tubers.

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