Twixmas is when my planning for next year goes into overdrive. One of the biggest tasks is getting my dahlia order in on New Year’s Day, yes and I do mean at midnight, before all the most sought after varieties are sold out!
Hopefully it means I will be near the front of the queue so that they arrive in late winter and I can pot up the tubers in our heated greenhouse and take some basal cuttings. I need to bulk up my numbers for 2025, as in the autumn I had to clear my old patch which had outlived its three year productive lifespan. A few special tubers were kept for propagation but the rest were retired to the compost heap, or bonfire if they showed signs of virus.
I am planning on supplying florists in 2025, so as well as a patch for our shop, weddings and PYO I will need a separate one for wholesale – mostly this will be for event florists’ wedding work. If you are a local florist and would like to find out more please do get in touch and I will send you our brochure.
With about five different suppliers and hundreds of varieties on the long list I begin the process of narrowing it down to 60 varieties. I know I need at least 12 tubers or cuttings of any variety to have enough to pick each week for my retail customers. For my wholesale customers I am looking for less range but larger numbers of a few favourites. Being a visual person it helps to bring out the sticky notes and graph paper. I like to colour code my rows as it is helpful with planning and also with picking when they are all in flower. Another consideration is including a variety of forms and a similarity in stem length – nothing too short as it can be tricky with the support netting.
Each bed on our farm has been measured and coded so I can calculate and record how many dahlia plants it will take to fill. I know from experience that it’s a fine line from not enough to way too many, which leads to a waste of time and profit deadheading them all.
There are always the old favourites that have to be included but the top ten I have listed below are based on their cut flower credentials and availability. I know it can be annoying when you love a recommendation and then find it’s not available, here’s looking at you ‘Carolina Wagemans‘….
- ‘Wine Eyed Jill‘ – versatile, very early with quality blooms throughout the flowering season, productive and with long, clear stems for easy picking. Here she is (top right) with more must-haves – ‘Sweet Nathalie’, ‘Rosemary’s Blush’ and ‘Break Out’.
2. ‘Purple Flame‘ – gorgeous rich colour with just the right amount of warmth to tone well with other colours, lovely informal anemone-type flowers.
3. ‘Porcelain‘ – my most romantic dahlia, a delicate pinkish mauve waterlily-type, tall with long stems so useful for large arrangements.
4. ‘Peaches‘ – it’s good to see this one available again, it has such a unique shape and I love the deep orange and creamy peach colouring. Image photographed by Clive Nichols.
5. ‘Senior’s Hope‘ – goes with everything and will always add a touch of class. It is a bit short so is a good contender for a large pot or trough.
6. ‘Copper Boy‘ – even though I find ball shapes too formal I can’t resist this uniquely coloured dahlia, looks great with Rosa ‘Hot Chocolate’.
7. ‘Nulands Josephine‘ – my favourite pompom, a similar to Burlesca but with more rhubarb than custard in its colouring. Pictured with another favourite Cornel Bronze.
8. ‘Josudi Andromeda‘ – David Hall has bred some fabulous small cactus-types all with the prefix Josudi, this one is a soft, blush pink. Tall, clear stems. It is pictured in the bowl arrangement below.
9. ‘Preference‘ – a semi-cactus, dark clear stems and the softest most perfect peach. Also one of our most productive dahlias.
10. ‘Penhill Dark Monarch‘ – I love a dinner plate dahlia especially when they are quite scruffy. Image photographed by Clive Nichols.
If you don’t have room for 60 varieties and are looking for some inspiration. you can always come and see our patch and even better pick and arrange with them during a workshop. I will be holding our popular dahlia class on Sunday 7th September as part of my Garden to Vase series. We will look in depth at all aspects of growing dahlias for cutting including variety selection, propagation, overwintering and how to achieve continuity of quality flowers. The day includes picking your favourites to arrange and take home in one of my hand-thrown bowls.
Happy New Year and dahlia shopping!
