Seedlings and cuttings

Ruth prepares young plants for the winter months

- Ruth Hayes

ONE of the main uses of the greenhouse this winter will be providing a frost-free space for seedlings and cuttings. They will stay under glass until the risk of frosts subsides next spring when they will be hardened off and planted in the garden.

Many of the cuttings and seedlings will be hardy varieties, but there will also be some tender plants, including some dahlia seedlings. Like all dahlias they are half-hardy perennials, which means that while they come back each year, they are not tough enough to withstand cold weather.

Mature dahlia tubers are usually lifted each autumn and stored in trays of compost or sand before being potted up in spring so they can start to grow before they go into the garden in summer.

I do this every year, but I have never overwintered dahlia seedlings before. Should they survive they will go on to grow and mature and develop tubers, but right now they only have young roots.