From A Lilac Tree to More Dahlias in the Backyard
Hello friends,
Over the winter months I've been busy in the back left-hand side of our garden, in the area where our lilac tree used to stand. After the tree died after the big spring storm last year, and once we'd taken it down, it gave me an opportunity to rethink and rearrange that side of the garden.
The first thing I did was set up some space along the fence line for growing sweet peas, which is already underway. The sweet peas are now growing happily up the wire netting.
As for the rest of the space, there was now a large area that could fit many more dahlias than I currently had. I decided to lay it out in rows so I could fit in as many as possible. I've become obsessed with anemone and collarette dahlias recently, so I wanted to add more of these to my collection, and also include them in my fledgling breeding program.
The first step was to dig out the lilac tree stump, and it turned out to be much easier than we'd expected. Hubby got the job done in less than half an hour, as the stump was completely rotten. I suspect this may have been the main reason why the lilac tree may have died in the first place...
The next step was to transplant my two damask rose bushes to the back fence line of our backyard. Last year, I had grown a dahlia between my dogwood and feijoa bushes, but it had struggled to survive in that position. Although the area gets sun for most of the day, the soil isn't in the best condition. My two damask roses (Duc De Cambridge and Isapahan), on the other hand, are very hardy, and don't mind what soil type they are in, so I thought they would be much better suited to the space, while also freeing up more room in my new dahlia area.
It didn't take very long to prune the damask roses back to a size more easier to transport, before carefully digging them up, while keeping as much of their root systems intact as possible. Then came the tricky part, walking them across the backyard without getting stabbed by their many sharp thorns. Once they had safely reached their new home, the roses were planted and watered in well. Now, in spring, they are very happily growing in their new position.
By now it was the middle of winter, and in between the frosts, rain, and a snow storm, it was time to tackle the dahlias that remained in the ground in this area. One by one, they were carefully dug up and transplanted into an empty vegetable garden bed nearby to overwinter while I prepared their new permanent home.
The task after this was a big one. Weeding the entire side of the garden took many weeks as I worked my way along the bed, laying out plant tags, and placing schist rocks to create paths between the rows where the dahlias would go. My plan was to plant the anemone and collarette dahlias two abreast, with the shortest varieties at the front and the tallest ones at the back.
I'd really let this side of the garden go in late summer and autumn, and I was paying for it now, dealing with a large number of weeds. The weeding continued into spring, and I even had to go back over some of the areas I'd already cleared as new weeds began popping up.
But finally, after many weeks of planning and weeding the space, my new dahlia bed is now ready. There's now a large, clear area waiting for all my anemone and collarette variety dahlias, along with a bunch of new ones. It has been a much bigger job than I expected, but I'm really pleased with how the space has come together.
And my new dahlias have already arrived, and are in storage in our garage. I'm impatiently waiting to plant them, along with all my other anemone and collarette dahlia varieties. After all those months of planning and weeding, I'm looking forward to seeing this space finally filled with dahlias this summer.
Have a wonderful day,
Julie-Ann
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November Dahlia Update
Hello friends,
Yes, I did buy more dahlias after I said my garden was completely full and I couldn't fit any more in, but I promise this time I had good reasons to do so...
First of all, I lost a number of dahlias this spring due to tubers rotting/eyes not forming, including:
- Arthur Hambley (DP)
- Cafe Au Lait (DP)
- Islander (DP)
- Muchacha (Dec)
- Salmon Runner (Dec)
- Tranquility (Col)
- Impression Fomoso (Col)
- The Phantom (Ane)
From my observations over the past couple of years, dinner plate dahlias seem more prone to rotting, and for this reason I am not planning on buying anymore dinner plate dahlias in the future, they're just not worth spending all that money on, just to end up rotting in spring.
Secondly, when my NZ Bulbs dahlia order arrived in early October, one of my collarette dahlias, Dark Tiger, was not in the package due to them being out of stock, and they replaced it with the waterlily dahlia, Twiggy. The dahlias in this order weren't in the best condition, and two of them (Tranquility and Impression Fomoso) are actually in the lost dahlias list. They didn't form any eyes at all, and then they rotted. I don't think I'll buy from NZ Bulbs ever again when it comes to dahlias.
Twiggy is a waterlily dahlia with warm pink suffused petals and a light yellow center.
And thirdly, I got rid of our small plastic pond in the back garden. When hubby installed it three years ago, he promised he would take care of it, and keep it clean, and that just didn't happen. So after I cleaned it out this spring (again), I talked with hubby, and he agreed with me that it was time for the pond to go. This freed up a large space in the right part of the back garden, and after some rearranging of dahlias in that area, it gave me more space for dahlias to go into the ground.
And fourthly, during the big North West storm in October my Avalanche camellia snapped off at ground level, and it left an open space in the garden which I could fill with another dahlia.
Luckily this all happened around the time that Bulbs Direct and Mount Mera Botanical restocked their dahlia varieties on their websites, so I bought some dahlias I missed out on earlier in the year, and with discounts too.
From Bulbs Direct I picked up Purple Haze, an anemone dahlia with deep plum-coloured blooms, darker in the centre, and rich dark green foliage.
From Mount Mera Botanical I picked up the following dahlia varieties:
Muchacha a small decorative dahlia with shades of rose pink, violet, and white, to replace the one I lost this spring.
Bacardi, a decorative dahlia with muddy-rose colouring and dark raspberry tips and centers. I lost this dahlia last spring due to it rotting, and I really wanted to replace it.
Platinum Blonde, an anemone dahlia with a fuzzy butter cream center and white petals.
Rockstar, an anemone dahlia with beautiful deep cranberry petals and fuzzy cushion centers.
Take Off, another anemone dahlia with soft, orchid-toned petals which encircle a lighter, fluffy center.
Princess Nadine, a collarette dahlia with double ruff of pink and plum petals and an apricot center.
And lastly, Skyfall, a collarette dahlia with luscious crimson petals and a gold heart.
As soon as these dahlias arrived by courier they all went straight into the ground, and they have already sprouted and begun to grow.
And finally just when I thought all my dahlia buying was done for the year, an opportunity came up that I just couldn't turn down. Emerden Flower Farm had Floret Petite dahlia seedlings for sale, and I couldn't miss out on buying some after I missed out on buying their Floret Petite Dahlia seeds last year. I bought 8 Floret Petite dahlia seedlings, and when they arrived by courier a couple of days later I planted them into a small section of our vegetable garden (bad of me I know, but I was desperate), and gave them a good watering. I'm excited to see what flower types and colours I'll get from them.
With summer fast approaching now, I can't wait to see all these new dahlia varieties flowering in my garden.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
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