How To Care For Dahlias
Dahlia is a beautiful flower originated from Mexico. For the first plants that arrived in Europe, in the late XVIII century, it was thought to be vegetables. But Andreas Dahl discovered the beauty of the flowers, and after him this plant was named Dahlia. In Belgium, the first double-leaved varieties were grown, and so the interest in breeding and crossbreeding of species increases, which creates a whole range of colors and sizes.
There are miniature shrubs that grow as high as 20 cm, up to the high species that can grow up to 150 cm. The size of the flower also varies from 10 to 25 cm or more. The biggest flower seen until now had a diameter of 53 cm. Apart from the size, the flowers differ in their appearance.
How to care for your dahlias
The dahlia is a very durable plant. You should plant it in a place where it will not be exposed to the direct sunlight all the time, in a humus – loamy soil and have enough moisture. In the flowering period fertilize it every 15 days with a liquid fertilizer that has a greater amount of potassium than nitrogen.
It blooms late in the summer, but if you first plant it in a pot and later, when it is already strong, you transplant it into the garden, it is possible to flourish in May and bloom until the first frosts. If you are growing some of the taller species, you should put a stick next to it for support. When the plant reaches a height of 25-30 cm lightly tie them together. It is multiplied by seed or by planting seedlings that have already developed roots.
You need to break off the tops on the third pair of leaves to get a nice, shrubby look with many branches and flowers. Wilted flowers must be removed in order to prolong the flowering period.
In late fall, when the frost has damaged the leaves, cut the stem about 15 cm above the ground and remove the bulb. Shake it from to remove the remaining soil, turn it upside down and leave it up to dry for about 7 days. Then, place it in a place protected from frost, wrapped in paper or buried in peat.
