Dahlia Online Sale - August 2024
Dahlia Online Sale
Available on our website 7pm Tuesday August 20th 2024.
Volumes are very limited this season as we scale up and restore historical collections.
We will have more available next year!
Dahlias Tuber sales will be processed within two weeks. You will receive an email with a courier tracking number when they are ready to ship.
Please select the correct shipping option at checkout. Incorrect shipping choices will lead to delays with shipping your order.
Dahlia tuber orders can not be combined with other products. Please order these separately.
Tree dahlias should be ordered separately to garden dahlias. Tree dahlia tubers are massive!
Please note we cannot ship to Islands such as Great Barrier and the Chatham Islands at this time.
Unpacking your dahlia tubers:
Your dahlia tubers will arrive in sawdust in paper bags. This is to protect them, moderate extremes of humidity and temperature and prevent them from drying out. Your tubers should be removed from these bags when you receive them and then either potted up or stored correctly until planting time.
For storage advice do read our dahlia growing guide and watch our youtube videos
Handling dahlia tubers:
Dahlias grow fresh shoots and new tubers from the crown region. Never handle your tubers at this region. This is the most common mistake new growers make with dahlias. Rubbing off eyes could result in no shoots and no plant growing from tubers.
What potting mix should you use?
When you get your tubers they can be potted up immediately in a free draining potting mix. (They are not bulbs, damn it! ) We get our own potting mix blend made to order but a simple cheap potting mix with 50% pumice and no fertilizer is fine.
A slow release granular fertilizer is acceptable. Avoid a potting mix with saturaid, peat, compost or manure. Don't water the pots. Tubers are 90% water. Grow them in a poly tunnel or on a warm windowsill until planting time in October. Very lightly water pots every two to three weeks but only when they are done dry.
Avoid coir, peat, seaweed or compost at this point in the dahlia growth cycle. A cheap potting mix such as No.8 from a hardware store will work.
Timing:
We start our tubers in pots inside in August for the following reasons:
- Flowers ready for late November
- Slugs and snails can’t eat the fresh shoots
- Wet and cold soil doesn’t rot new tubers.
Planting in the ground:
The adage is Labour Day in New Zealand for planting dahlias. But consider your soil moisture, local rainfall, soil composition and microclimate and has the last frosts passed? Then determine timing for your specific garden situation.
The garden dahlia, D. variablis is the result of cross breeding with species of dahlias from the mountains of Mexico. So, dahlias need good drainage.
South Island New Zealand:
If you are in the South Island the steps described in our dahlia growing guide may be one or two months later, weather dependent. You can plant your dahlias in the ground after the last frost. Grow them inside in pots until then.
Happy gardening!