Dahlia Tubers

Hand-picked for quality and size.

If you want early flowering, start the tubers indoors in a pot from February or March and put them outside in mid-May. Plant the tuber 10 to 15 cm deep. Low kinds go about 30 cm apart, tall ones 50 to 60 cm. Full sun matters: at least six hours a day.

Keep cutting off spent flowers and the plant makes new ones. Give tall kinds a stake, and pinch out the top once when the plant is about 30 cm. That makes it fuller.

After the first night frost the leaves turn black. Then lift the tubers out of the ground, cut the stem back to about 10 cm, let them dry and store them cool and frost-free in a box with peat or sand.

Practical: Dahlias are not hardy here. Do not plant the tubers until mid-May, once the soil is above 10 degrees, and lift them after the first night frost. They range from 30 cm in a pot to a metre and a half at the back of the border. If you want to help bees with them, choose the kinds with an open heart.