Dahlias (Dahlia) originally from Mexico, but for many, many years they have been considered native and one of the most beloved flowers of our summer residents and gardeners. The plant retains the underground part of the stem with tuberous roots. The aboveground part dies off every year. And, probably, the only disadvantage of dahlias is that every autumn its roots in the form of tubers need to be dug up by the summer resident and stored until spring. Basically, dahlia – these are some advantages: long and lush flowering (from mid-summer to the first frost), a huge palette of colors and a variety of shapes with minimal care. It is not surprising that dahlias, originally garden flowers, are increasingly migrating from flower beds to balconies and loggias, because they can also be grown in containers. About the features of growing dahlias at home – this article.
Garden dahlia on the balcony
Contents:
What dahlias are recommended to grow on balconies?
Currently, there are several thousand varieties and names of dahlias. For convenience, they are divided into numerous groups and varieties according to the shape and color of inflorescences, leaf color, bush height, flowering time, etc. The richness of colors and a variety of forms allowed dahlias to be practically out of competition with other perennials.
Low compact varieties of dahlias are recommended for balconies. From the non-double group, such requirements are met by the variety populations Mignon Mishung and Veselye Guyat.
The height of compact bushes of non-double dahlias reaches no more than 40-50 cm. Plants have dark green smooth leaves. The inflorescences are characterized by a bright, varied color. Flowering is abundant and long – from July to frost.
Especially for the balcony, low varieties of “pompom” and “spherical” dahlias are suitable, such as “Cockard” (yellow inflorescences with a dark red center, 4-5 cm in diameter, bush height 60-70 cm), “Purple Lantern” (inflorescences are crimson-purple, 5-6 cm in diameter, plant height 70-80 cm), “Effect” (inflorescences 5-6 cm in diameter, red, bush height 50-70 cm), “Red Ball” (inflorescences are bright -red, 8-10 cm in diameter, plant height up to 100 cm).
Read our detailed article on dahlias – “Dahlias in the garden – description, classification, use.”
Features of growing dahlias on the balcony
In April, dahlia tubers are brought into a warm room, viewed, sore spots are removed, the cuts are sprinkled with charcoal or talcum powder, then planted in the ground for germination.
On sunny days, the boxes are taken out to the balcony to harden the plants. Dahlias are planted in a permanent place in balcony boxes when the spring frost is over, that is, in the second half of May.
Caring for dahlias consists in regular watering, loosening the soil, feeding with mineral fertilizers.
It is not recommended to grow dahlias on north-facing balconies, to plant them inside loggias, on closed balconies where there is little light.
Georgina on the balcony
How I grew dahlias on the balcony
The idea to grow dahlias on the balcony came to me spontaneously. Arriving at the dacha somewhere in the middle of March, I examined the dahlia tubers, which hibernated in a box of sand left in an unheated house. I felt like my Melody Mambo curb dahlias were starting to wake up. I took them home and put them on sprouting in the sand on the insulated balcony. My glazed balcony with a south orientation.
Already in mid-April, two out of three dahlia root tubers sprouted fifteen centimeters each, on which several leaves had already developed. It was decided to put them in containers, because the time for disembarking in open ground had not yet come.
The root tubers were large enough, so the pots were appropriate. It was difficult for them to stand on the windowsill. Therefore, I adapted a stool for one pot, and the other dahlia was planted in a pot with a stand. The land is an ordinary garden. High drainage from broken bricks. She put them modestly in the corner of the balcony. And this was the main mistake, because dahlias do not just need a lot of light – dahlias need a lot of light!
My dahlias grew quickly and I decided to leave them on the balcony, because replanting dahlias with buds in open ground was risky, and leaving the pots on a flower garden was even more risky. We visit the country house once a week, and without watering in pots, dahlias would definitely disappear.
My dahlias in early June
First flowering
The dahlias grew very quickly. And only later I realized that this was how they stretched out – stretched towards the sun. My joy knew no bounds when the first dahlia bloomed. It was very beautiful and unusual – a dahlia on the balcony. By the way, it happened in the first days of June!
Then there was the second, third and fourth flower … And the dahlias began to hurt. For a couple of weeks, I still watched them, treating both pests and diseases, just in case. But they started to look worse and worse. In general, I planted them in the open ground, and it happened in mid-July.
It has already become clear to me that in a closed balcony, dahlias will not develop normally – there is little light. I cut the aboveground mass to about 10 cm, leaving only a few leaves on each stem. And what do you think? By the end of the summer they “woke up” and even bloomed, although they grew, of course, only a third of their actual size. Which proves once again that dahlias are one of the most unkillable flowers.
Dahlia border “Melody Mambo”
In general, as my experience of growing dahlias on the balcony shows, this can be done. But the process will not bring difficulties only on one condition – if dahlias grow on an open balcony and receive sunlight from all sides. If you cannot provide your balcony dahlias with a lot of light, it is better not to torment the flowers – grow them in a flower bed.
