The Dahlia Garden In May

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This preview brought to you at 7:30 AM by Carol, who promises that Mike or I will write more tonight!

Transitioning, transitioning, transitioning…

It is now 9 PM and it is Mike’s turn to make good on my promise of  ‘more dahlia information tonight’.  He has planted 68 dahlias so far in the main garden, and he has more to plant there.  Then he will move on the auxiliary garden for a few dozen more.  Without further adieu, I give you Mike’s words of dahlia planting wisdom:

In the top photo, we see one of my goals…a full bloom of a dahlia named Alfred Grill. The second photo shows the starting point for the philosophy I use.  The tubers were started in our basement months ago.  The tubers sprouted shoots that were cut off and rooted.  The rooted shoots have been slowly acclimated to the outside world.  Hardening off like that is wise for all indoor started plants.

The planting starts by placing a 5 foot long piece of 1/2 inch rebar in the ground. I used to use 3/8 inch rebar, but it bent too easy when pounding the stakes in or removing them at the end of the season. Rebar that is 1/2 inch thick doesn’t bend very easily.   The stakes are driven about 18 inches into the soil. The rebar is painted green, but this is only done so that it looks “pretty”.  Carol prefers to not take photos of rusty metal if it can be avoided. 

Only after the rebar is in do I proceed to planting.  I dig a 6 inch deep by 6 inch wide hole right up against the rebar stake. A teaspoon of Osmacote is mixed into the soil at the bottom of the hole. Then the plant is placed into the hole. I sometimes lean the plant slightly toward the stake to make it easy to tie the plant to the stake when the time comes. Fill the voids around the plant with soil and compress slightly to remove air voids.

I also give the plant a healthy drink of water to help remove air pockets. Speaking of healthy drinks of water, take note of the weather forecast. If a dry spell is looming, before planting, I will actually submerge the plant in a bucket of water for a minute to be sure that the soil in the pot is completely drenched. I then let it drain for 2 minutes before sticking it in the ground. This prepares the plant to tolerate a complete drought for a week if needed. If you want to be fancy, add a little Miracle Grow to the bucket of water.

The marking tag you see in the second photo will be taped to the stake so I can identify the plant.

When the plant is about 12 inches tall, I loosely tie it to the stake so a windy day doesn’t mow down my beauties.

Kind of looks like a tomato garden doesn’t it? Just wait….’

Mike

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