Dear Dahlias, I hate you.

Well… maybe I don’t hate them, but I am finding their blooms to be elusive, or at least, so far. I watched hundreds of dahlias in my social media feeds last summer. Meanwhile, in my garden, they were not so easy to see. I did have some plants that flowered and even one or two that flowered regularly, but all 19 plants flowering in a rainbow of colors for the entirety of the season, not so much. I was disappointed with the number of blooms, but I also acknowledge that I have some things to fix about my soil, bug pressure, and fertilizing consistency. I was most excited about dahlias in my garden, and I was pretty bummed when they didn’t perform as well as they did in my imagination leading up to the season. 😊

All things considered, the best and most consistent performer was Coseytown Gale. She was the first to bud and bloom and for the most part, provided flower after amazing flower most of the growing season. Other plants that did well, Coseytown Lions Mane, Coseytown Deville, and Coseytown Early Girl.

Coseytown Gale bloom just opening.

I wrote before about our bug pressure, but I came face to face with the harshness of it at the end of the season with the dahlias. I had a couple of plants that grew tall enough and seemed strong but never produced any buds. After further inspection, I realized ants had taken up residence in the main stalk of the plants. Hundreds of them. It was crazy. When I cut the stalk to the ground, a ton of ants poured out. There were lots of other pests that were battled in the garden in 2022 and winning this war will be a primary focus in 2023.

Dahlia stalk that had a crap ton of ants living in it.

I did dig up and save my tubers. That was a whole other adventure that I will post about later. I also bought about 18 new tubers, because, why not?! In spite of the disappointing season, I still have a love affair with these blooms, and I am not able to give up quite yet. I’m hoping for a better season but am more realistic going into this year with the understanding that for me, dahlias are not the easiest to grow, and I still have a lot to learn, but I must to try again!

The sunny face of perfection from Coseytown Lions Mane. This is one of my favs.