I say pot ay toes and you say patatas…

Ok so maybe “I say ‘Day-lee-as’ and you say ‘Dar-lee-as’ doesn’t quite fit into the song but I looked up the lyrics and the words “But oh, if we call the whole thing off then we must part

And oh, if we ever part then that might break my heart” certainly would ring true for any keen or certainly passionate grower of these diverse and sometimes exquisitely beautiful flower group.

I have always admired and respected those that could grow Dahlias successfully as mine always died off or failed to flower.

My interest started with a visit to a family friend’s garden with my Mum and my mother exclaimed at how beautiful the Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ was which triggered my emotional tie to the flowers.

I remember all those years ago having a pop of the crimson flowers of the Llandaff in my garden only to find they didn’t reappear for me just like that the next year. So, I deemed myself a dahlia failure until I realised through my gradual understanding of horticulture and husbandry that we all have different soil types and conditions - even in the same town or village and that each and every plant had specific requirements.

So, I realised that Dahlias can be grown in clay soils provided that they are treated a little different and definitely lifted at the end of the growing season and I would say that I would lift Dahlias in heavier wet conditions a little before the heavy frosts start - just when the nights are getting colder.

Some people leave their Dahlias in, including my Mum in the Northwest of England. She has lighter, sandy loam and they are obviously protected but I am not going to take that risk - not since I took the plunge and bought some tubers this year and have been rewarded with beautiful flowers.

They are currently in the greenhouse drying off waiting packing into shoe boxes and taken to the top of the wardrobe - this is the advice from my elderly client who has wet heavy clay that waterlogs in the rain and cracks in the dry spells, and she has the same tubers flower year after year!

One more thing to add is they do like some room and full sunlight, but I will cover the growing conditions towards the late spring when it is time to wake them from their slumber.

So, this is the knowledge I pass on to you and I hope that it is of some use.

In the video below, Paula describes one particular method used in the UK for lifting and storing Dahlia tubers to protect against winter wet and frosts