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In the cut flower garden, one of my main sources of frustration has always been dahlias. For whatever reason, I’ve just never had much success with them. The first time I ever planted dahlias, I bought them from the dollar store. It was a mixed pack of three, and they turned out to be red and yellow. Not exactly the most complimentary color combination, however, they did bloom. Okay, they barely bloomed. I got, like, one flower from each plant – but it still counts!
Fast forward a billion years later, and here I am, still growing these things. However, this time I’ve got a lot of experience on my side. You’ll remember that I didn’t bother to order dahlias last year. I didn’t have the space, and well – I didn’t have the money. This year, I was lucky to have a few extra bucks (and a gift card leftover from my birthday) to buy some really pretty ones! Let’s take a look at how I plan on planting these this year –
Before we go any further, I feel like I have to make the obligatory statement that this is not a sponsored post and I am in no way affiliated with Eden Brothers. I just shop there, and I feel like I legitimately got my money’s worth while ordering. 
I ordered my tubers waayyy back at the beginning of the year during the pre-sale. I’m fairly certain there was also a coupon for 25% off or something, too. In general, I’m a pretty cheap person, so I made sure to shop around for the best price and a wide selection. Even though I wanted a bargain, I also realllllly wanted some of those pretty varieties that “professionals” grow. Hahaha.
So obviously, space is tight in the yard. Everything gets laid out in an intensive planting, including the dahlias. I ended up spacing them about 10 inches apart in a double row. Basically, I worked the soil well to depth of about one foot deep. After I was finished, I added a very generous portion of seabird guano pellets. As mentioned previously on my blog, the guano that I use is approve for both vegetable and flower gardens. Always make sure to read the label on your fertilizer very carefully. Safety first!
This season, I decided to lay out the garden bed in a U-shape. If all the plants grow as they should, I think this will end up looking really nice. Everything looks like a huge mess at the moment, but I think things will come together nicely once I am able to remove and relocate the daffodil bulbs (and cut the grass).
As a means to stake the dahlias this year, I plan on using wire fence panel. Honestly, I have no idea how well this will actually work, as I’ve never seen anyone else on the internet do it. My garden instinct tells me that it will be a great idea. However, sometimes the “garden voice” inside my head tells me to do ridiculous things that don’t work….so, yeah. Only time will tell. 
I love how fat and healthy these tubers look! Here’s hoping for beautiful dahlias this season!
Can’t wait to see how they turn out. Love following your blog. How deep do you plant the tubers. Are they as hardy as Iris’, that seems to be the one I have the best luck with.
Thanks Ann
The main thing that happens to dahlias is that they get eaten, especially slugs and snails will tunnel down before the leaves emerge. So some protection is necessary. I have a patch that I never tie up and another plant that I loosely attach to a stick. I plant them about a foot deep and dig them up about every five years for division.