The Dahlia Guide - Blooming
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Hooray!
Blooming time is the best time. This is what you’ve worked so hard for! Take lots of pictures and enjoy them!
Cataloging
I try to catalogue all my dahlias every season. I take a photo and then use the tagging feature in the iOS photo app (swipe up on the photo) to keep track of my flowers. This year, I am taking a picture and confirming all the tubers I planted are the varieties I intended. Once it is confirmed, I then wrap a label around the base of the plant.
Cutting
An important note before you go nuts cutting your flowers:
Sterilize your scissors when you are cutting between plants. Dunk your scissors into a bleach solution and then water between plants. This is critical to reducing the spread of diseases.
How you cut your plants depends on your goal with you dahlias:
Do you want the massive dinner plate sized dahlias? Then you need to remove side buds so the plant puts more energy into the one primary big bloom.
Are you mostly using your dahlias for cut flowers? Keep cutting! The more you cut the more they’ll kick out blooms.
Are your flowers primarily for landscaping? Leave them alone. Once the bloom starts to die, cut them off. Deadheading is an integral part of continuous blooming.