End of Season Dahlia Checklist
I always hate to write this post but it’s really important! It’s time to begin your end of season tasks. Yes- I know they really just got going good, but some of these tasks you need to do now!
Hapet Champagne
So to prep your dahlias successfully for over winter and next year:
1. Make sure they are labeled properly. Double check every plant and make sure it’s tag reads the correct variety. I use old vinyl blinds (the cheap kind), cut them up and write on them in pencil. It has never failed me! If you are digging your dahlias, zip tie it to the base of the plant.
If you have a mislabel that you can’t identify, try posting in Dahlia forums on Facebook, asking friends, check with the supplier- there are multiple ways to figure it out. And if I can’t find the actual name, I just write a description- that way I know it’s not what the original label said it was.
20th Ave Memory
2. Figure out when you need to stop fertilizing. Look up your average first frost date and then work back a month from there. After that point, don’t fertilize any more. You don’t want to encourage a lot of new growth towards the end of the season. Just let your dahlias focus on tuber growth during the last month. If you don’t wait until frost to dig your tubers, just stop fertilizing about a month out from when you will dig. You do still want to focus on treating powdery mildew or any pest issues.
The many faces of Wine Eyed Jill
3. Decide on your winter storage method. We’ll talk more in depth about this later but decide if you are going to dig or leave your tubers in the ground.
Coseytown Gale
4. Make your wish list for next year. Decide who you want to add and who’s getting the boot to make room for new additions.
2025 Variety Highlight- Who I’m Loving Right Now!
It’s really fun but also hard to write these because who I’m loving changes weekly. But here are a few stars/standouts so far this year!
20th Ave Gwen: Some of you doubted me when I said yellow was going to be big this year. I’ve sold every yellow dahlia I can cut this year.
From left to right: 20th Ave Gwen in her July Coloring, late August/September coloring, Early October coloring, comparison of 20th Ave Gwen and Coseytown Gale (left side and bottom blooms) Coloring is currently yellow with a little hint of pink in mid September, definitely heading towards the 3rd photo.
Sweet Nathalie- an oldie but a goodie. Because of our cooler weather this fall, she’s been running more blush than lavender and she’s won me over again. Plus she’s just so darn reliable!
Sylvia- I was discussing with a customer this morning how she’s the perfect orange- not too bright but doesn’t get lost. Perfect Fall Orange color!
20th Ave Memory- 4th year growing this one and she’s definitely hear to stay! Really just the most perfect blush. Left/middle photos from early September and then she goes a bit lighter- more white/blush but still very warm looking by October.
Jabber box- I’ve been a little on the fence about this one but she complements the raspberry colors I keep getting asked for. Good tuber maker and easy to grow so probably another year for it!
Just a few varieties that are really pumping out the blooms, my customers are loving and are making my day!
PS— I also want you to notice that there’s not a single unicorn on this list. Nothing wrong with unicorns but if you are looking for heat tolerant dahlias, there aren’t a lot of unicorns that work well. All but the 20th Ave varieties are many years old and easy to find/affordable dahlias.
The Early Bird Gets The Worm
I keep hearing a lot about dahlias being “behind” this year. And it’s been a brutal summer for some areas of the country. We had a very hot July but overall- not the worst summer I’ve experienced for dahlias. Thankfully the weather is cooling down and the dahlias are loving it.
So your blooms should be along soon but what if there was a little something you could do get blooms sooner?
Plant early varieties!!
These varieties are great for several reasons- Most of them bloom within 75 days. That means they are perfect for short season climates (pretty much guaranteed a bloom before frost!) If you are in a long season, then you usually get 2 flushes out of the plants. So here are my favorite early bloomers!
Peaches N Cream- Not only is this one of the most reliable dahlia varieties for a hot climate but she’s an early bloomer. A must have in my opinion.
Wine Eyed Jill- I love a color changer like this one. If you overwinter her, she’s peachy in Spring’s cooler weather and then pink/purple in warm.
Linda’s Baby- Pinky Coral and just downright cute! Shorter growing habit means she’s perfect for throwing a little frost cloth over too - just to get a few more blooms out of her if you get hit by frost early.
(Pictured below left to right)
4. Sweet Fabienne- Identical plant structure to Linda’s Baby but a pink bloom instead- very productive.
5. Blizzard- always nice to have an early white, productive
6. 20th Ave Gwen- Beautiful pink/yellow in heat and then yellow/peach in cooler weather (my new personal favorite right now!)
(Pictured left to right)
7. 20th Ave Memory- One of the best blushes I’ve ever grown!
8. Karma Marteen Zwaan- Flowers fast- often I can get 3 flushes out of this variety in a season.
9. KA Mocha Katie- more yellow when she flowers early but then goes to the tan/burgundy coloring later in season
10. Sylvia- She’s the perfect orange in my opinion- bright but without screaming at you.
(pictured left to right)
Ten Dahlias guaranteed to get you blooms faster! What are your favorite early bloomers? Drop a line and let me know!
Time to Reap the Reward
It’s finally here- the dahlias are starting to come in. It begins as a slow trickle, just a few handfuls one week and then it gets more the next, then it jumps and we are cutting buckets before I know it. We aren’t quite to the buckets point yet but we aren’t far off. I look around the field and see more and more organza bags protecting our precious buds and I know it’s coming!!
So how about a harvesting tutorial? (I’ve got a special tip in here for all the flower farmers too!)
Knowing the correct stage to harvest is important with dahlias. There’s a myth that says they don’t open anymore after harvesting. But most varieties I know will open at least about 20% more after you cut them. Knowing this makes it important to know the proper harvest stage (that’s also really important for good vase life too!)
Harvesting:
Know what application you are harvesting for. I harvest for cut flowers for florist wholesale. This is a bit different than if I were cutting for a dahlia show or bouquet/grocery store use.
This is Sweet Fabienne pictured above. In the far left photo is the correct stage for bouquet/grocery use. You want 2 rows of petals beginning to reflex backwards. For florist use, I would cut more like the 2 middle pictures. They like their blooms more open and at the perfect use stage. Most of the blooms they buy from me are used within 2-3 days so as open as possible without having a blown center is perfect for them. The last picture shows the frontal view of picture #3. It’s a good full dahlia. Picture #1 will look like this within 2-3 days of sitting in the vase but since vase life is so important for bouquet use, you want to cut it earlier to give your customer the full show!
2. Stem Length- We measure with our arms. Our minimum stem length is from finger tip to elbow. Anything less than that gets culled. Goal stem length is mid bicep. I’m often asked if you should cut at the first node below the bloom so that they side buds will bloom. This doesn’t work for cut flower use- too short. If your goal is as many blooms as possible for a stellar display in your home garden- then deadhead spent blooms at the first node (break) below the bloom. But for cut flower use- if you want long stems, you have to cut long stems. Sequential stems will always be a little shorter than your original so if you want them long, you have to cut long from the beginning. It may feel like you are taking half the plant at first but it will push more longer stems if you cut deep.
3. Consider the form of the dahlia. Different forms require different cut stages.
From Left to Right:
#1 Bridezilla- I find this one looks best if the first row of petals has started to reflex. It will open to a nice fluffy state.
#2 Cactus Types (this is Clearview Jonas)- These look much better if you let them open a lot - But you want to make sure that center is still tight. But their true beauty is in the layers and layers of petals they have that give them a full look.
#3 Cafe Au Lait- this beauty can be cut fairly tight and still open well. Ideal stage is when she has a flat back. Make sure her center is still tight and not showing any yellow pollen.
#4 Peaches N Cream- She has such a good vase life that you can cut it more open and it will still last really well in the vase.
4. Know your varieties- As you’ve just seen in the pictures above, you can get the best performance out of your dahlias by knowing your varieties. But to do this, you have to test them. So always cut, put in a vase and observe. Take photos- I find this helps me remember.
Now- A tip for the flower farmers. We are using a new system this year to help us remember how to cut each dahlia at the proper time. I made labels for each variety and tagged each row.
The harvest stage listed refers to the harvest stages for dahlias in the Floral Standards book put out by the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market. So now all we have to do is learn the 5 harvest stages listed in that book — Instead of remembering the harvest stage for 100+ varieties of dahlias! I plan to print out a small poster of the 5 harvest stages and post it in our field pavilion.
Your Dahlias Need a Therapist
The other day one of my crew members asked why do dahlias get green centers? I explained it was a sign of stress. She responds with: “Poor little dahlias, they just need a therapist!”
Some days I feel like a dahlia therapist- there’s a reason my Instagram is called “Flower Therapy”. One of my goals in life is to show people that growing can be fun and not stressful. Gardening should be a form of therapy - there have been so many times in my life where it has played the role of therapist- good and bad times!
I feel like I’ve gotten more panicked emails from growers this year. Not sure if the weather is worse or why exactly. I do know this- there are a lot of brand new dahlia growers who have found their way here. That makes me really excited! If it’s your first year, you are in the right place!
Today, I want to normalize some things for you. I hope in the future that new growers will find this post and realize there’s no need to panic!
No particular order here but I want to explain some things — these are all drawn from emails/questions I have received from new growers this season.
1. Green Centered Dahlias- As stated- stress is usually the cause. In particular heat stress. During a hot summer, a lot of dahlias won’t open well and they tend to push a big green center as a heat response. It is possible that genetic breakdown can be the cause of this too but if you are in a hot climate, it’s usually heat. Once the weather cools in the fall, it goes away.
2. What do you do if a plant falls over or breaks off? Clean up the break if it broke off and you’ve still go a plant left- cut back to the next node. Make sure to keep it watered and fed and it will grow back. Falling over is lack of proper support- and learning how to support your dahlias takes a few seasons. Stakes, tomato cages, netting are all good options.
3. My dahlia rotted. Losing a few dahlias each year is par for the course if you grow in a hot climate. Loss is normal and should be expected. We lose 15-20% of our plants every year- usually to too much rain or too much heat. There’s only so much you can do about it- best thing is to observe what happened and try to fix it for the future.
4. I’ve got these white spots all over my leaves (especially in June/July). Most likely you have thrip damage. See the picture below. A good pesticide will take care of it- Capt’n Jacks Dead Bug Brew is an organic option that I like. You’ll need to keep up a regular spray schedule for a month or two until the thrip pressure lessens in your area.
5. My leaves look stippled and are starting to yellow. You’ve got spider mites or broad mites (maybe both). The Capt’n Jacks will work if they aren’t at infestation level yet but if you need something stronger- Avid is a good option.
6. My plant is gorgeous and green but has zero bud or flowers (asked in June). Hang in there- dahlias put on their show in late summer and fall. If you see people with earlier blooms, they probably overwintered their plants.
7. Half of my bloom doesn’t seem to want to open. This is thrip damage again. Thrips can cause this distortion and also turn a light colored bloom brown overnight. They are tiny brown bugs- visible with a magnifying glass. Organza bags have worked well for keeping the thrips off the blooms. You must put them on before the bud begins to open.
This is not a complete list by any means but I hope it will normalize some things that happen to all of us. There’s no need to panic and maybe you can avoid taking your dahlias to the therapist.
