SEATTLE — Seattle gardening expert Ciscoe Morris says that keeping dahlias looking good is a matter of picking flowers that are past their prime.
“If you don't get rid of the spent flowers, they go, ‘I’ve done my job, I’ve reproduced, I don't have to do anything but enjoy the sunshine, get a good tan and eat a little fertilizer.' They stop bloomin!” Ciscoe said.
He advises cutting any faded blooms back down to their stem, and leaving the side buds, which will still flower, especially if the plant isn’t wasting energy supporting old blooms.
After pruning his Karma Choc, one of his prize dahlias whose blossoms smell like chocolate, Ciscoe showed us a Northwest cosmos, also a type of dahlia, that he dropped the ball on. On this pink blossomed plant, spent blossoms look a lot like new buds, but there’s a trick to figuring out which part to trim, and that’s to keep any round looking buds, which will become a new flower. If it looks like a bud but has a pointy, non-rounded tip, that’s a spent flower, and you can trim it off.
Ciscoe has a few more tips to help dahlias thrive in late summer.
“You know how your mama always told you to stay hydrated in hot weather? Well let me tell you, dahlias are the same as we are, they droop fast on a hot day. I'm gonna make sure that the base of this plant gets plenty of water, that will help keep it blooming really well."
Fertilizer is another key to end of season success.
“Dahlias are big eaters, so I’ve got some organic flower food here and some alfalfa meal, they absolutely love alfalfa meal, about 2 cups alfalfa meal, and the recommended amount of organic fertilizer,” Ciscoe said as he worked the soil enhancers in with a hoe.
"Okay, hydrated, well fed, all the old flowers cut off, this is one happy dahlia that's gonna reward me for this hard work by blooming all summer long!”
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