Garden Layout - Plants - Dahlias
Dahlias are another flower that make me wish I had more space in my garden. As it is, I grow them in pots and move them about the patio as required. Up until 2 or 3 years ago, I always lifted the tubers at the end of the season and stored them in sawdust, but, with the mild winters of the past few years, I've taken to planting them a bit deeper, at 150mm rather than 100mm, and they have survived without any obvious problems or losses.
This is Dahlia 'Diabolo', a fiery red dahlia that flowers from July onwards. The foliage is bronzey-green and the new shoots are ideal for late-summer cuttings, to increase my stock. Each plant grows to a height of about 350mm and the flowers are approx 75mm in diameter, red with yellow stamens. Each tuber will throw up 20-30 flowers per season. I have three tubers in a 350mm pot, encircling a small Buxus sempervirens and underplanted with anemones, iris reticulata and crocuses. By mid-August, the Box shrub is completely hidden by the dahlias and their flowers.	Dahlia Diabolo
Mixed Dahlias and Nasturtiums	This is another 350mm pot planted with 3 different dahlia tubers of unknown varieties, one pink, one peach and one red flowered variety, underplanted with Dianthus deltoides. Another of my 'bargains', they all flowered well in their first year. The foliage is a paler green than that of Diabolo, and they grow slightly taller, to about 450mm high with 75mm diameter blooms that last for 3 or 4 days each. Unfortunately, the dahlias in this pot are subjected to sustained attack from earwigs from the moment they first emerge in early June.

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