Starting Dahlia Flower Seeds Indoors
It's February - and that means here at my farm it's time to start some of our flowers from seed.
We sow thousands of seeds every year - all those wonderful seeds I enjoy purchasing during my travels, and seeds we order from our favorite sources. Among them - Floret, a family farm and floral design studio specializing in organic, handcrafted arrangements for special events. Located in the Skagit Valley, outside Seattle Washington, owner Erin Benzakein has created a thriving business - in fact, she was one of our American Made Honorees in 2014.
This week, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, planted a selection of dahlia seeds from Floret.
Here are some photos.
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- Dahlias are among my favorite summer blooms – those gorgeous, bright, and colorful flowers that open in late June and last all summer until the first autumn frost.
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- Dahlia is a genus of tuberous plants that are members of the Asteraceae family and are related to the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum, and zinnia. Dahlias are named after 18th-century Swedish botanist Anders Dahl. He actually categorized dahlias as a vegetable because of their edible tubers. The tubers are said to taste like a mix between potatoes and radishes.
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- I always pick many dahlias from the garden to use in arrangements around my home. These flowers give off a stunning show with blooms ranging from small to giant dinner-plate size.
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- This arrangement in glass is in my Winter House sitting room. Dahlias come in white, shades of pink, red, yellow, orange, shades of purple, and various combinations of these colors – every color but true blue.
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- Floret works hard to find the very best cut flower varieties – their selections are based on scent, stem length, and overall quality.
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- This week, my head gardener Ryan McCallister, started four dahlia mixes from Floret – Bee’s Choice, Cancan Girls, Petite Florets, and Shooting Stars.
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- Dahlia Bee’s Choice includes a wide range of flower shapes, sizes, and colors with open centers that attract pollinators. (Photo from Floret)
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- Dahlia CanCan Girls features tufted blooms in all shapes and sizes, many with the anemone flower form. The color range includes reds, maroons, pinks, purples, and many bicolors. (Photo from Floret)
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- Dahlia Petit Florets is a mix of soft pastel tones, including peach, apricot, dusty rose, lavender, sun-bleached raspberry, and buttercream. (Photo from Floret)
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- And Dahlia Shooting Stars is a mix of star-shaped flowers, including single, collarette, orchette, and orchid types. (Photo from Floret)
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- When starting from seed, it is helpful to use seed starting trays. These trays provide controlled environments that help ensure moisture levels are consistent, preventing seeds from drying out or becoming waterlogged.
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- And it is best to use a pre-made seed starting mix that contains the proper amounts of peat, perlite, and vermiculite.
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- Here, Ryan is filling the trays with soil, making sure each cell of the tray is filled to the top.
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- Then, using his fingers, Ryan makes a shallow hole in each cell. The hole needs to be big enough for the seed to be dropped in and then covered with more soil mix.
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- Small wooden markers identify the specific cultivars, so we can keep track of varieties that grow best in my gardens.
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- Dahlia flower seeds are brown to black in hue and generally about a half-inch long.
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- Here, Ryan drops the seeds into the cells by hand – one in each cell. Seeds are usually started about two months before the last frost in the area.
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- Markers are placed in the trays to indicate what seeds are in each row. Seedlings should start to appear within 10 to 14 days.
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- Once the entire tray has been seeded, Ryan adds a light layer of soil to cover the seeds.
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- And then he gently pats the soil down, so there is good contact.
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- These trays will go into our commercial-sized Urban Cultivator. In several weeks, these young plants will be moved into larger celled trays, and then finally out into the garden come late spring.
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- And by summer, this garden will be full of colorful dahlia blooms once again. And by the end of the next growing season the dahlia seeds we started will have produced viable dahlia tubers that can be dug up and stored with all our other dahlias. If you haven’t already, maybe this weekend you can start some of your own dahlia seeds indoors. But, if you haven’t ordered any, don’t worry, you still have time.
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