Companion FlowersAsteraceae
Dahlias.
Pollinator magnetDeer favorite
At a glance
The spec sheet.
- Indoor start
- Tubers can be pre-sprouted Apr
- Direct sow / out
- May 20 (after last frost)
- Germ
- Tubers, 14–21 days to emerge
- Days to harvest
- 90–120 to bloom
- Spacing
- 18–24"
- Depth
- 4" (tuber lying horizontal)
- Square-foot
- 1 per square (Café au Lait needs more)
- Qty target
- 6–12 tubers for weekly bouquets.
Plant
Plant tubers eye-up after soil warms. Pinch tops at 12" for branching. Stake at planting so you don't spear tubers later.
Care
Water deeply once buds form; not before. Disbud for larger blooms. Cage tall varieties.
Harvest
Cut when fully open — dahlias don't open further in the vase. Cut in the morning into cool water.
Dig tubers after first hard frost blackens foliage. Cure a week, store in vermiculite or peat, replant in spring.
Companion planting
What dahlias likes, and doesn’t.
Good neighbors
- Onions (repels aphids from dahlias)
- Roses
- Nothing significant
Deer will eat dahlias — protect with fencing or spray.
More in this family