Dahlia Duvet


Monica from Garden Faerie's Musings asked me last week if I lifted my Dahlias for the winter, so I thought I'd show you today what I've been up to over the weekend. The usual garden advice for the UK is to lift them, trim off the top foliage and any rotting tubers, and store them in sand or peat (or an alternative, more eco-friendly compost) in a frost-free garage or shed for the winter.

Being a gardener of the lazier sort and fortunate enough to live in the south west of England (I reckon it's about zone 8, for those of you reading this over the pond), I've decided to leave my Dahlias in the ground to overwinter, just like I've done for the past few years. They're in the terraced part of the garden, so this is a warmer, more sheltered spot for them anyway. In order to ensure their survival until the spring, I give them a thick snuggly duvet like the one shown in the picture. I've cut off the blackened foliage and stems from last week and then covered the plants with a few inches of thick mulch - the used pet bedding from next door's pet guinea pigs and hamster in this case. The wood shavings and straw are ideal and will rot down sufficiently over winter, so the emerging plants in the spring won't suffer a nitrogen deficit. I reckon the rotted pets' poo will also give them a boost.

Of course with this method, eternal vigilance is needed come April/May next year to ensure the emerging foliage is not attacked by pesky slugs and snails. I reckon it's worth it though, otherwise I'd have to tidy up my shed so I can fit them in somewhere for the winter.

Comments

  1. Riko3 November 2008 at 11:37

    Nice blog
    (muy bien, por favor visite mi blog)
    could you visit mine

    thank you

    http://fellas4life.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen3 November 2008 at 11:46

    Anything to save you from cleaning up the shed, right? giggle

    For a long time gardeners in the Netherlands were advised to dig up their dahlia's before the frosts set in but nowadays we are advised more and more to just cover them up with a nice duvet and keep our fingers crossed that all is well come spring. And most of the time it is.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous3 November 2008 at 12:04

    I'm going to try the duvet idea over my Canna as it's done so much better in the ground this year. No handy guinea pigs or spent compost so I'll have to buy something!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous3 November 2008 at 12:14

    That looks like such a snugly nest VP- mine are still out! Yikes.
    K

    ReplyDelete
  5. Zoë3 November 2008 at 12:41

    I still dig mine up and put in trays of dry sand. The wet over winter seems to do for mine as much as the cold. Also easier to pot up and propagate cuttings from them in the spring. They do look snug though - hope they make it through.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rose3 November 2008 at 12:49

    Wow, you're in a Zone 8? Just shows I need to study my geography more, or perhaps it's the tides in the ocean that create a warmer climate there. I definitely couldn't leave dahlias here--we're a zone 5.

    That has to be the most creative use of hamster debris I've ever heard of!

    ReplyDelete
  7. F Cameron3 November 2008 at 13:08

    Great information! Here in US zone 7b, I cover tender perennials with a mountain of mulch. A "duvet" sounds so much more elegant! :-)

    I want to try dahlias next year. My garden is only 3 years old, so I'm still working on my "wish list" of plants to grow.

    Cameron

    ReplyDelete
  8. TYRA Hallsénius Lindhe3 November 2008 at 13:59

    Oh.. that look great, I wish that I could do like that. I dig up all of Dahlias each year and store them in the garage (my husband hates it) / LOL Tyra

    ReplyDelete
  9. tina3 November 2008 at 14:18

    That dahlia duvet is a great idea! And a super cool name for the blanket.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Shibaguyz3 November 2008 at 18:08

    What a clever name for your mulch... and what a great reuse of resources! Cheers for making the most out of what you have and for finding another way to avoid the drudgery of cleaning up. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  11. Joanna3 November 2008 at 19:04

    Dahlias are frost-hardier than you think, perhaps two degrees below. It's the wet that does for them in the winter. I always leave mine in the ground, stuff a large plastic flowerpot with the leaves that blow round the garden at this time of year, and put it upside down over the tuber, fixing it with a bit of stick or a stone. Almost never lose any. Always get ants if I use terracotta pots.

    Joanna

    ReplyDelete
  12. Gail3 November 2008 at 19:15

    There shall be no unnecessary tidying of sheds is what I say! Leave 'em in the ground...If a system works why change it!

    gail

    ReplyDelete
  13. Helen/patientgardener3 November 2008 at 20:35

    I'm even lazier I dont even mulch mine just cross my fingers!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Una3 November 2008 at 21:49

    In south east England here..my Dad used to put sacks of leaves on top of the dahlias. Always seemed to work.

    ReplyDelete
  15. VP4 November 2008 at 19:26

    Riko - nice to see you here. And yes I've had a little peek :)

    Yolanda - absolutely. Shed cleaning's an absolute no no.

    EG - good for you. Sadly no pet stuff for me next year as they've just met their demise. Unless I import from my niece in Yorkshire. We did discuss a whole post about the uses of spent bedding the last time she was here...

    Karen - protect them or yank them out soon!

    Zoe - yes the winter wet's the main problem here too. And that's a very good point about not being able to take cuttings with my method

    Rose - it's the Gulf Stream we have to thank for our mild climate. Otherwise we'd be shivering along with the whole of Canada!

    Cameron - glad you do the same and I look forward to seeing Dahlias in your garden next year!

    Tyra - thanks for visiting! Our garage is in a worse state than the shed!

    Tina - thanks :)

    Shibaguyz - thanks! It's kinda more fun this way. And thanks for adding me to your Following list :)

    Joanna - we're a clay soil, so winter wet's going to be a problem. However, the duvet seems to regulate the moisture better too.

    Gail - absolutely!

    PG - I don't trust my fingers to stay crossed for long enough! Hope your hectic few days go well.

    Lottie - that might be the replacement I'm looking for for next year. I have a mountain of leaves to rake off the lawn at the moment...

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter,
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi
Read more