Getting the Most Out of Dahlias 



ORRIN E. DUNLAP 



Successful Late Planting — Air Drainage and Protection from Early Frost 



IT WAS on May 18, 1914, that I placed an 

 order for fifty varieties of this grand 

 autumn flower. I had asked the grower 

 from whom I purchased to give personal 

 attention to a selection of the bulbs, and 

 because he was in attendance at various 

 Conventions, as I was informed, his office 

 force did not fill my order until the latter 

 part of June. However, I made the planting 

 on July 2nd. I watered them carefully, 

 fertilized and cultivated them in order to give 

 them every advantage of growth, having in 

 mind the seeming late planting. The 

 results I obtained were thoroughly 

 satisfactory, the fall crop of bloom 

 being all that anybody could wish for. 

 This was an inspiration, and for 

 191 5 I planned for an increase of 

 varieties, also earlier planting, and 

 I was not unmindful of the fact and 

 apparent possibility that could I 

 protect the plants from the early 

 frost I would extend the flowering 

 season a considerable period. With 

 this object in view, after my plants 

 attained fine growth, during the sum- 

 mer of 1915 I erected over them a 

 frame work over which I could draw 

 cotton sheeting in order to ward off 

 the frost. I had read that even cheese 

 cloth would give considerable protec- 

 tion from frost, but in order to be 

 thoroughly safe I purchased cotton 

 of nice weight and thus secured what, 

 in my judgment, should be a sub- 

 stantial covering. I had this cotton 

 sewed so that each sheet consisted 

 of three strips and in covering I 

 extended it from the fence over trie top 

 and nearly to the ground in front of my 

 Dahlias. One strip thus covered was about 

 16 feet long by 50 wide, while the other 

 strip thus covered was about 27 feet long 

 and 16 wide. 



I" OVERS of Dahlias can appreciate the 

 -*— ' satisfaction I felt the first cool night 

 when the covering was in place. To stand 

 beneath it and look over the plants with 

 their full bloom and bountiful buds was an 

 inspiration and in fancy I enjoyed the future 

 flowers from my plants apparently so well 

 protected. The temperature dipped and it 

 became quite cool, and I derived considerable 

 satisfaction from the preparation I had made 

 to protect my Dahlias. To be under the 

 covering was to experience a very similar 

 enjoyment to that in a greenhouse. My 

 neighbors admired the protection and agreed 



that I would have nice flowers very late in 

 the season. 



The first frost in my vicinity occurred on 

 the night of September 28th. On the nights 

 of October 24th and 25th there were very 

 heavy frosts and my Dahlias were killed. 

 Their blackened appearance in comparison 

 with the white sheets gave me a sense of 

 mourning that was depressing, and in my 

 heart I felt that I had not profited to the 

 expenditure and trouble I took to gain pro- 

 tection. 



To look over the plants with their full bloom and bountiful buds is an 

 (Miss Margarita Fischer) 



DERHAPS what I saw on my way to the 

 *■ office each morning doubly impressed 

 me with this conviction. Each morning my 

 route to the office took me by the home of 

 Mr. C. L. Krull on Erie Avenue, Niagara 

 Falls, N. Y. His place of residence is in the 

 same city about two miles to the south of 

 my home, and his location is about two or 

 three blocks from the Upper River, while 

 mine is about the same distance from the 

 Gorge and Lower River. Mr. Krull had a few 

 Dahlias in his front yard, and each morning 

 they waved back and forth in the wind, 

 apparently danced in glee at their being alive 

 after the cold spell. The plants were in full 

 bloom and the foliage was untouched by 

 frost, this without the slightest protection 

 having been given to them. Each morning I 

 compared their beauty with the blackened, 

 frozen appearance of my plants to protect 

 which I had taken so much trouble. On the 



night of November 15th frost slightly touched 

 the Krull plants, and on the night of November 

 16th frost and snow handled them more 

 severely, but they did not give up their 

 beauty and life until the nights of November 

 17th and 1 8th, when they were blackened in 

 full bloom. On that date my Dahlia bulbs had 

 been dug and placed in the basement of my 

 home. 



It is worthy of note that on the night of 

 November 17th thin ice formed in my hennery 

 which has double walls and is considered 

 quite a warm house, while the Krull 

 Dahlias standing out in the open 

 were not so badly frozen the night of 

 November 18th having finished their 

 beauty and by the morning of Novem- 

 ber 19th the Krull Dahlias were 

 through blooming for the year. 



' I "'HIS seemed to me a strange ex- 

 •*■ perience with plants of the same 

 kind and character in the same city 

 and within a comparatively short 

 distance of each other. My curiosity 

 was aroused and from the City Engi- 

 neering Department I learned that 

 the difference in elevation between 

 Erie Avenue and Cleveland Avenue 

 at the corner of Main Street is 11.89 

 feet, while the corner of Cleveland 

 Avenue and Eleventh Street, a street 

 just east of my home, the difference 

 of elevation between Erie Avenue is 

 1.89 feet lower. These figures indi- 

 cated that while from Erie Avenue to 

 inspira ion Cleveland Avenue the difference in 

 elevation is 11.89 f eet , Erie Avenue 

 being the higher point, that the front part of 

 my residence place is not much lower than Erie 

 Avenue, but there is a dip in my garden so 

 that we may assume that the difference in 

 elevation between the Krull garden and my 

 garden is about 10 feet, my garden being the 

 lower of the two and possibly about the 

 lowest point in the city. It may have been 

 that the influence of the broad Upper River 

 had considerable to do in protecting the 

 Krull Dahlias, while possibly there might 

 have been a little more wind in that section, 

 but this fact is not generally recognized. The 

 Krull Dahlias grew to a height of about five 

 feet, while my Kalif Dahlias attained a height 

 of at least eight feet, while other Dahlias I 

 had grew equally tall. In fact the growth of 

 all but three of my Dahlias was remarkable, 

 due to fertilization, cultivation and watering. 

 The three Dahlias which were an exception 

 were planted in a spot equally advantageous 



Though quite a protection against light frosts, this cotton covering did not overccme the 

 disadvantages of a low location of garden 



B xause late planting flirts with early frosts, a framework was erected which later sup- 

 ported the cotton cloth 



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