My Garden Story

Difficulty with Dahlias

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Flowers have fashions, and dahlias were no exception. They had been out of favour for many years, classified as "suburban" along with carnations and of course gladioli,  forever ruined by Dame Edna. Now dahlias are all the rage, with farms springing up everywhere.  I first became aware of the resurgence in popularity at a small wedding in country Victoria. A second marriage for both and very casual. The bride is artistic and the groom is musical. It was a hot day, tiny church with the dog allowed in, the bride in striped cotton and carrying an armful of dahlias. I was surprised but it looked just right. The reception was held in a marquee in their garden and the tables decorated with big bunches of dahlias in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes, stuffed casually into jars, pots and tins. It looked wonderful and I came home determined to grow a couple at least. I started looking at online nurseries and researching the best growing conditions: soil, water, aspect was it too cold here?  There were two nurseries that had stock - they are late summer flowering - it was confusing as there were so many different types, dinner plate, cactus, pompon and so on. I knew I didn't want the very small ones, but I was captivated by a large, shaggy Delbard dahlia called Villandry. At the time you had to have a license to sell French Delbard dahlias and only two nurseries in Australia that I found could do so.  Villandry is a cactus dahlia, with a pale yellow centre blending into pink outer petals. It looked spectacular so I ordered one, and an equally large scarlet dahlia with a purple centre - the name is long gone alas. They arrived in Spring as tubers and I placed them in a sunny spot and waited.  Villandry was a triumph from the beginning, and the scarlet beauty, though not as prolific, was rich and rare. They died back in winter, so I cut them to the ground and up they came the following summer, for several years.  I was about to order more but then came the year of the Great Wet, the dahlias got root rot and died, along with several other precious plants and a tree. 

 

We cleared up the mess and I started to replant. The dahlias were on my list, but of the two nurseries where I had seen them previously, one was out of stock and the other was not listed. A few years passed, then a dahlia farm appeared locally. They held workshops and sold dahlias, and you could pick your own at the end of the day.  I signed up for a day, but when the time came, I couldn't go. The owner came to me with a bundle of lovely things and several packet of dahlia seeds with careful instructions. I asked about Villandry. She said she was not licensed to sell Delbard dahlias, but she might have one she could give me, I promised a donation in return.    A rather shrivelled tuber arrived in the post, and I planted it carefully outside the kitchen window. It didn't come up. I was disappointed but I had raised ten seedlings in the tray, so I suggested to Malcolm we plant a special dahlia bed, which we did. I thought they were big and strong enough, but I was wrong. The following day I went out to water them and they had gone, eaten to the ground by rabbits. There were a couple of stalks still visible, so I put cloches over those and asked Malcolm to put a temporary fence around the bed, in the hope that the others might emerge in due course. I took the cloches away, but in spite of the fence, it turned out it was too close to the remains and they too were eaten. We removed the fence.  There was one still alive, so I carried it away and planted it in the bed outside the kitchen window. Then I went back to hunting for Villandry. I didn't find it but I did find a dahlia called Café au Lait, with huge blooms and a lot of spirit as it turned out. It too, went into the bed outside the kitchen window, sharing space with three roses, a huge red geranium, creeping thyme and a ten-year-old sorrel, plus parsley. It did extremely well and flowered vigorously. It is now classed as 'the most popular dahlia in Australia', and much loved by florists for bridal bouquets, it is a true pale coffee colour, very like a rose called Julia which I also grew for a while. I grew to love Café au Lait but never gave up hope of finding another Villandry. Several nurseries are now licensed to sell Delbard dahlias but none of them has Villandry, even if listed it is always out of stock or unavailable.

This summer, however, was different. It was cooler than usual, and we took two of the roses out of the kitchen bed. I saw a dahlia emerge, then another, then two more. I knew where Café au Lait was planted but the others had me confused. Intrigued, I waited. The one I had rescued from the garden was a healthy small, red flower with purple foliage. Not my favourite combination, but it settled in and has flowered for months.  The other two were still a mystery, they grew tall, and I thought that Café au Lait had spread, until I saw the first flower bud and it was pink. I held my breath, but when it opened it was, to my great joy, Villandry.  The original shrivelled tuber had been dormant for three years, but it was not dead, it had been sleeping and gathering strength for a fine burst of flowering. It's a hard ask, but if I had to choose one thing in the garden between the luculia gratissima, the gingko, the osmanthus fragrans or Villandry , this summer it would be Villandry. Now I going to hunt for the scarlet dahlia with a purple centre. Wish me luck!

 

Next time: Rabbit proof plants.