DARLING DAHLIAS

You’ll feel like you’re in Rio de Janeiro during Mardi Gras when these beauties bloom in your garden – they’re so exuberant and extravagant

Mass plant your dahlias and create a living patchwork quilt from their many colours and shapes, such as the ‘Shirley YoemAns’ ball dahlia (front), the ‘Mrs Rees’ cactus dahlia (middle) and a bright red ball ‘Hot Shot’.

dahlias bring such joy to a garden, with their flirty flowers coming in a dazzling array of shapes and colours all through summer and autumn, not just for a couple of weeks.

Plant sizes vary from dwarfs to giants, and the flowers from buttons to dinner plates, with shapes ranging from balls and pompoms to simple daisy and anemone.

If you have them in your garden now, it’s time to divide and double your display. If you haven’t, then spend winter deciding what dahlia colours and shapes will turn your patch into a party in summer.

DIVIDING THE TUBERS

Dig up the tubers in winter with a garden fork. Throw out the squishy ones. Divide the firm ones so you can double your plants.

Divide healthy tubers with clean secateurs, making sure each section has a ‘neck’ and ‘eye’ (a bit like a potato) where the buds are.

If you don’t get frosts, you can replant them immediately.

If you get frosts, store in a polystyrene or cardboard box on a layer of damp – not wet – mulch. Cover with humus for 3-4 months until buds emerge. Replant in spring.