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Dahlias are both annual and perennial. When choosing a type of flower for your site, you should remember that it is much easier to grow an annual plant: you do not need to wait for the formation of tubers, dig them up for the winter, and protect them from diseases and rot. It is enough just to sow the seeds and in a couple of months enjoy the lush flowering of dahlias in your own flower bed.
About the rules for growing annual dahlias, as well as about the best varieties of these bright flowers – this article.
What is the peculiarity of annual flowers
There is a beautiful legend about the appearance of a flower in the place of an extinguished hearth – a colorful dahlia replaced fire for people and resembled flames. Indeed, these flowers are very bright, large, there are many varieties and varieties of annuals, among which it is easy to choose a decoration for a garden or flower bed.
Annual dahlias have a lot of advantages over perennial species and other garden flowers:
- Long flowering period – from mid-summer to the first frost.
- Large and colorful inflorescences, which are in the form of a ball, can have a terry or glossy surface, pointed or rounded petals.
- Simple sowing and easy plant care.
- It is not necessary to dig up the tubers and transfer them to winter storage – this procedure usually ends with the loss of most of the rhizomes due to infection with fungal infections.
- Dahlias can grow throughout the country, even in the northern regions, these flowers can be grown in seedlings.
The main advantage of annual dahlias is their unpretentiousness – these flowers grow equally well in different climates, on any soil, do not need complicated care and frequent watering.
Dahlia variety
In order for the same-year-olds to please the owner with violent flowering, you need to be able to care for the plants, as well as choose the appropriate varieties of dahlias for your site. These flowers differ in several ways:
- according to the height of the bush – tall, medium and dwarf. The gardener must take into account that tall flowers need to be tied up, strengthened with supports, left between the bushes at least 70 cm. At the same time, 30 cm distance between the holes is quite enough for dwarf dahlias, because the bushes are not only low, but also compact.
- By the type of bud (size, shape, color, features of the petals) and the color of the leaves.
- According to the timing of flowering, dahlias are distinguished depending on their height, as a rule, tall varieties bloom a few weeks later than short and dwarf varieties.
“Bambino”
A variety of dwarf dahlias, the height of these flowers cannot be more than 25 cm. Annuals bloom in mid-July and continue to bloom until frost.
With these undersized flowers it is convenient to decorate garden paths, the first tier of flower beds, plant them in pots and planters. The inflorescences are large – up to 8 cm in diameter, can be painted in various bright shades, have a terry surface.
“Funny boys”
One of the most common and well-known annual varieties in Our Country. Flowers reach a height of 30-60 cm, have compact bushes – just designed to decorate the garden.
The inflorescences of plants of this variety are colored in various shades, since flower seeds are sold as a mixture. The common center of the flowers is a bright yellow hue and the simple structure of the inflorescence.
Dahlia blooms from early July until the very first frost. It is convenient to decorate flowerbeds and flowerbeds with it, it can be combined with other types of flowers.
“Collar Dahlia”
This is also a mixture of several multi-colored varieties of annuals. The plants are united by the height of the bush – about 60 cm, and the structure of the inflorescence.
Small short petals are collected around the bright yellow center of the flower – a collar. These narrow petals lie on large pointed leaves of the outer edge of the flower – a lush, two-layer inflorescence is obtained.
The variety blooms from mid-July to October. In general, “Dahlia Collar” is intended for cutting and decorating flowerpots, but the flower looks great in flower beds, organically combined with other garden plants.
“Decorative Dahlia”
Such a mixture of multi-colored one-year-old flowers is intended for decoration of bouquets – the height of the stems can reach 120 cm.
Inflorescences are large, rounded, with double petals. The variety also looks great in flower beds, blooms until the first frost.
“Dahlia cactus”
The height of the stems in plants of this variety reaches a meter. Inflorescences consist of thin petals, rolled into tubules. These petals resemble needles, which gave the variety its name.
The inflorescences are very voluminous, bright, decorative – they decorate bouquets and flower beds of gardens. After sowing seeds into the soil, cactus varieties of dahlias bloom no earlier than the 16th week, but they continue to bloom until late autumn.
“Pompom Dahlia”
The inflorescences of this variety are similar to the cactus dahlia, only the flowers are more dense, rounded. Terry heads of annual flowers are similar to fur pompoms, only bright and colorful.
The height of the bushes of this flower is about 90 cm. Plants are often used in group plantings, combining dahlias with other flowers and shrubs.
“Opera”
These annual flowers grow only up to 30 cm, so they are most often used to decorate balconies and window sills – they are planted in pots or boxes. Flowers also look good in flower beds, in the form of a frame or border.
The flower is terry, voluminous, with a barely noticeable yellow center. Blooms at 16-18 weeks after sowing seeds, continues to bloom until the first frost.
“Mignon”
Simple, sophisticated and bright flowers of this variety are considered very decorative – they are planted in flowerpots, pots, flowerbeds and flower beds.
The height of the bushes does not exceed 40 cm, flowering begins in mid-July, and ends with the onset of autumn frosts. It is difficult to overestimate the beauty of this variety – the flowers are shown in the photo below.
Figaro
Low-growing varieties of dahlias are represented by another variety – “Figaro”. The height of the stems of this flower is not more than 35 cm. But its inflorescences are large – up to 10 cm in diameter, and voluminous.
Dahlia can decorate the foreground of a flower bed, be combined into a composition or individually grown in pots and boxes. Blooms from July to October.
How dahlias are grown
Even a novice gardener can decorate the garden with annual dahlias – these flowers do not require special care.
Still, in order for the flower bed to turn out beautiful and bright, you need to follow some rules:
- Annual varieties of dahlias are planted either by seeds or seedlings. The first option is suitable for regions with a mild climate – the seeds are sown in holes in late April-early May, when the threat of night frosts passes. For those areas of the country in which a warm climate is established with the onset of summer, the seedling method of growing annuals is more suitable, moreover, they will bloom a couple of weeks earlier than those sown with seeds.
- Growing dahlia seedlings is very similar to growing tomatoes or bell peppers. Seeds are pre-soaked for a day, then planted in boxes or pots, covered with foil. After the emergence of seedlings, seedlings are grown for 7-12 days, and then dive into individual containers. Before planting in open ground, dahlia seedlings need to be hardened off – taken out to the street or to the balcony.
- If the soil on the site is nutritious, you do not need to additionally fertilize the plants. Scarce soils are fed with organic or complex fertilizers in the fall. During planting, you can add a handful of wood ash to each hole.
- Annual dahlias do not need to be watered often – these flowers are afraid of waterlogging, as they are prone to infection with fungal infections. It is necessary to irrigate as the soil dries up, and with the onset of autumn, completely stop irrigating the bushes.
- For more abundant flowering, you can feed the bushes with complex fertilizers, applying them before the appearance of buds and after the first of them bloom.
- In order to have more flowers on the bushes, it is recommended to pinch the central shoot. Then lateral stems with additional inflorescences will begin to grow.
- Faded flowers should be cut off in a timely manner. If they are needed to collect seeds, the inflorescences are left for a couple of weeks. After that, the seeds are collected, dried and put into paper bags.
- When autumn frosts begin, dahlia bushes can be covered with agrofibre at night – this prolongs the flowering of the crop.
A properly selected variety and compliance with the recommendations for growing one-year-old dahlias are guaranteed to provide a flower bed and garden with beautiful flowers, bright and unpretentious.
