THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



235 



Late Planting of Dahlias Assures 

 September Bloom 



Photographs by H. Troth and L. Barron 



CONTRARY to the general belief June 

 or later is the time to plant dahlias, 

 and as good results will be had by planting 

 as late as July ist, as on the first of June. 

 Many people bend all their energy to plant 

 dahlia roots at the earliest moment after the 

 danger of late frost is past. This usually means 

 from about the 15th to 30th of May. Some 

 few people try to get the roots planted even 

 earlier. Many of the most successful growers 

 defer planting to as late a date as possible for 

 the reason that plants put in the ground early 

 start into growth and are well advanced by 

 the time the hot weather of July and August 

 arrives. If this period is ordinarily hot, 

 and the plants are on a heavy soil, the 

 chances are that they will stop growing; and 

 they never recover afterward. Very many 

 disappointments in growing the dahlia are 

 due to planting too early. The best success 

 I have ever had were from plants put into 

 the ground on July ist to 4th. Of course 

 in an abnormally cool and wet season, the 

 reverse holds true and the chances are that 

 really early planted roots will do better than 

 late planted. 



WHEN THE ROOTS BEGIN TO GROW 



Old roots that have been stored in the 

 cellar all the winter will push out shoots 

 early in the spring; but there is no necessity to 

 plant them at once. Of course they must be 

 removed from the cellar, taken out doors, and 

 laid on the ground in a shady place until they 

 have to be put in the ground. Late planted 

 roots — which may be whole clumps or 

 divided so that there is a tuber and one eye 

 to each piece — can be set out at intervals of 

 at least three feet. 



If one has a special liking for dahlias it is 

 well to make several plantings. The first 

 about the middle of May, the second and 

 third at intervals of one month each. From 

 this system a succession of flowers will be 

 had all the season from about July 15th till 

 the early frosts cut down the tops. The dahlia 

 is very sensitive to frost, and will not survive 

 the first touch which usually comes about 

 the end of September. From the latest 

 planting a good lot of high quality flowers 

 may be depended upon during September, 

 and as late as the frost keeps off. 



Of late years there has grown up a fancy 

 for local dahlia shows in many country 

 villages, and if any readers of The Garden 



Magazine want to do themselves credit at 

 these contests, they must rely upon the late 

 set roots. The plants must be kept growing 

 without any check from the time they are 

 set out, and disbudding should be done to 

 secure the largest flowers. 



planting and cultivation 



Roots (old clumps, or divided to a single 

 eye) should be planted in a good garden soil 

 so as to be six inches below the level of the 

 bed, and the soil filled in to just cover the 

 crown. As the stems push up, the extra 

 soil is gradually raked down during routine 

 cultivation, until the surface of the bed is 

 leveled. All through the season, water must 

 be given with judgment. Don't make the 

 mistake of keeping the ground too wet, for 

 that merely induces succulent, tall growth. 

 It is best to give water only moderately, 

 say once a week, but let that be a thorough 

 soaking. Keep the ground stirred with a 

 hoe once a week, and the quantity of water 

 needed will be greatly lessened. 



FERTILIZERS TO USE 



A mixture of four parts bone meal 

 and one part nitrate of soda, gave successful 

 results when applied as a top dressing on 



sandy soil after the plants were well up; 

 apply at the rate of one ounce of the mixture 

 to a square yard of bed surface. On a heavy 

 soil or a medium heavy one, on which a 

 considerable quantity of stable manure had 

 been used in the preliminary preparation in 

 the spring, this was not a good fertilizer, 

 having too much nitrogen. In such a case 

 we have had glorious flowers, remarkable 

 for the intensity of their colors, from the 

 use of a mixture of boneblack and acid phos- 

 phate in equal parts, and applied very freely 

 as a top dressing, early in the season after 

 the plants were well up. One strange 

 feature of this treatment should be recorded 

 — in many cases the plants fed with the bone- 

 black and phosphoric acid failed to form 

 tubers, and the variety was carried over only 

 by the roots from other parts of the garden. 



The gardener who has put his roots out 

 very early, can secure a later season of bloom 

 by pinching out the growing shoot and in- 

 ducing branching and then pruning out extra 

 growths to keep the plant open to air. 



Stakes in a garden are more or less of a 

 nuisance at any time, and one objection to 

 the dahlia has been the necessity of staking it. 

 This is largely obviated by late planting, 

 and it is a fact that the largest commercial 



326. Dahlias planted early and too close together become tall and leggy. The ideal spot is one exposed to 

 full sun and quite open. Roots planted three feet apart at least in late June give best flowers in September 



