WHETHER they’re the size of a teacup or a dinner plate, Dahlia’s have become one of the UK’s most popular plants. And it’s no wonder - not only are they still flowering now - with a bit of luck you’ll be picking them right through to November. Hever Castle in Kent has even got a Dahlia Weekend Special taking place next month - which shows how much they’re still very much in bloom in Autumn.
Val Bourne , garden writer and vice president of the Hardy Plants Society , told Sun Gardening : ‘there’s just no other flower.’ She’ll be appearing at the Dahlia weekend on October 8/9th. She said: “As a child growing up in Southall, the Dahlia was one of the first flowers I ever noticed.
They’re like lollipops and just so colourful. The fifties were such a drab time, brown socks, brown shoes, brown overcoats, so I just fell in love with them. GARDENING “Back then they only appeared on the showbench.
People didn’t have them in their outside spaces. “Now they’ve become really popular garden plants. There’s no other flower that begins in July, and keeps belting out the blooms.
And the more you pick, the more they keep flowering - right up until the frost hammers them. "Because of climate change, I'm finding myself picking them in November! They might be a little weak stemmed by then, but everything else has packed up. Head Gardener Neil Miller's tips to keep Dahlia's growing for longer Use chicken feed and growmore to get them going - rose food is a good su.