Dahlia's

Glenjjones

Hi,

I'm wondering if some of you lovely more experienced people can help me?
I'm trying Dahlias this year for the first time in a long time. The last time I tried them I put them in my border, the slugs had a field day, and I left them in over winter and they were never seen again.

This time I am going to give them more care and attention. I'm going to put them in pots, and place the pots within the border, and then do the appropriate winter routine, after the first frosts (dig up and store, etc).

My questions are:

1) I have bought a Bishop of Landaff that seems to be one thick strong stem at the base, that was pinched out and has bushed out slightly. 
    a) can I take tip cuttings from some of the side shoots, or is it too late?, and 
    b) should I pinch out the growing tips of the side shoots to encourage further shooting/bushing?

2) I have also bought a Totally Tangerine, which says it will grow to Approx. 60cm, but is at about 30 to 40 cm and already has loads of Buds. I assume its been forced into flower a little, to help sell it, as May seems early for buds, so should I cut off the flowers to encourage stronger growth, or just let it flower?

Sorry for what are probably silly questions, but I really like Dahlias and would like to grow them correctly to get the best out of them.

Regards,
G.

Loxley

I think any Dahlia stem that isn't hollow in the middle is fair game for a cutting - I don't think time of year matters greatly (although you wouldn't do it in late summer as the plants wouldn't have much time to grow a decent root system before dormancy).

I think with Geums you deadhead, but cutting off the flower stems entirely won't achieve much - they kind of throw up dedicated flowering stems from the base.

Pete.8

1
a) yes
b) depends how bushy you want it to be. I generally only pinch the tops of those that benefit. If you pinch out the side-shoots too, you'll end up with late flowers and a very bushy dahlia.

2. I'm guessing it's a TT dahlia and not the well-known variety of geum.
I wouldn't cut off early buds.
Dahlias will bloom quite happily throughout the year in their native climate. But here they get shocked by cold weather then frost kills the top growth.
If it's well fed and watered it should go through to the cold weather.

Glenjjones

Hi Both, 

Thanks for the comments. Yes I was referring to the TT Dahlia, and not the Geum.

so basically take cuttings, but don't remove flower buds or growing tips.

I'll go with that and see how it goes.

Thanks again.
G