The Organic Garden - Journal

Organic Summer Dahlias

Often at our local farmer’s market a customer will ask, “what is that pretty pink flower?”.  “Oh, that is a dahlia”
we will answer. “How about that red flower?” “That is also a dahlia” we answer. “But they don’t look alike at all, how can they both be dahlias?”  Amazingly over 50,000 named varieties of dahlias have been hybridized from the original three varieties that were found in the Mexico highlands by Spanish explorers.  So beloved is the dahlia that it now is available in almost every color and shape imaginable. From the gigantic dinner plate dahlias to the orchid and pom pom varieties, dahlias offer an endless array of textures and colors. Dahlias are the quintessential summer flower, requiring lots of warmth and long summer days to coax their blooms to open. And the slightest hint of frost turns the plants into a pile of black mush, graphically displaying this plant’s preference for summer conditions.

 Dahlias have always been a wonderful garden flower, but have often frustrated the gardener who wants to bring their blooms in the house and arrange them in a vase.  All too often the blooms will droop and die within a few hours. All sorts of advice is given to encourage the success of the cut flower dahlia, including burning the bottom of the stem or placing in boiling hot water. After years of trials we have developed a line of dahlias and a method of harvest which yields beautiful cut flower dahlias which confidently last 3-5 days in a vase. We find that time of harvest, quality of water, immediate chilling and careful harvest techniques all add to the success of our dahlias.  We predominately grow water-lily and incurved cactus forms of dahlia because they work best for us and in our opinion are the most beautiful. We are also experimenting with informal decorative dahlias with huge blooms.  We offer our dahlias on our website at www.CaliforniaOrganicFlowers.com  as individual bouquets or in our 12 bunch Dahlia Party Pack which is perfect for decorating a summer party.  

When you receive dahlias from California Organic Flowers, they will come with a packet of flower food. Adding flower food is optional but our tests have shown that it adds a day or two to the vase life of our dahlias.  Flower food basically contains sugar to feed the flowers, an acidifier to help with the uptake of water and a biocide to control bacterial growth in the sugar rich solution. Some customers have had success with their own flower food concoctions of sugar, lemon juice or vinegar and a drop or two of bleach. Upon arrival simply remove your flowers from the box cut an inch of the bottom of the stems and place in a clean container with fresh water and flower food. With in a few hours your dahlias will puff up and shake off any of the crumpled look they they may have acquired  during transit. As with all flowers they will last longer if kept in cool conditions (less than 70 degrees) and out of direct sunlight. Also, changing water every day or two will greatly increase vase life as it reduces the bacterial contamination which can clog flower stems. To view our beautiful Summer Dahlia Collection, go to our Organic Flower Calendar accessible from the home page of our website and look under ‘Summer/Fall Flowers’.