Mr. Garner’s Dahlia field in Michigan

Ooh la la dahlias! It’s impos­si­ble to think of dahlias as any­thing but fem­i­nine. They are the “Can Can” girls of the flower world, with their curly petal pet­ti­coats and seduc­tive bright col­ors. I’ve been hav­ing a love affair from afar with these girls until recently, when I took the plunge. A dahlia now graces my front porch. It looks like the pur­ple and white beauty in the very left hand cor­ner of the photo above.

Dahlias are tuber­ous rooted peren­ni­als. They grow best in the sun, but appre­ci­ate after­noon shade in the hottest areas. Alas, dahlias need reg­u­lar water, and are much beloved by snails and slugs.

If you are for­tu­nate to have enough flow­ers to make a bou­quet, the best results will be pro­duced by doing the fol­low­ing: Cut your flow­ers in the early morn­ing or evening. Place the stems in warm water (100 degrees) for 1/​2 hour, and then use a vase filled with cool water. Dis­play in a cool loca­tion to extend vase life for about a week. Change the vase water daily.

If you would like to see more on Mr. Garner’s dahlias, go to the archives @ the right under Gar­den Travel/​page 4.