How to sow your free dahlia seeds
Dwarf beauties will return and attract insects, says Ruth
WAS thrilled to see Dahlia ‘Mignon Mixed’ as part of the free seed schedule because they are such simple and giving flowers to grow. Not only are the seeds large, making them easy to sow and germinate, but the flowers are beloved by pollinators thanks to their unfussy, single-layered open faces.
Dahlia ‘Mignon Mixed’ are dwarf halfhardy perennials that produce a wealth of brightly coloured flowers with yellow centres above verdant green foliage.
They bloom between June and October, attracting butterflies and other beneficial pollinators to your garden. And their generosity doesn’t stop there, as after flowering their seeds provide nutrient-rich goodness, to feed up the garden birds at the start of the colder months.
If you leave the plants in the ground until the first frosts of autumn – as you would do with larger tuber-grown dahlias – and carefully dig them up, you will find that some of their roots will have formed small tubers.
These can be lifted and stored through the winter before planting again the following year, and if they survive they should grow and get stronger with each passing year.
Sow the seeds onto fresh seed compost in new or cleaned seed trays, modules or 4in (10cm) pots.
Cover with a thin layer of more compost or vermiculite, label and place somewhere light and warm.
When the seedlings have germinated and are large enough to handle, prick them out into individual 3in (7cm) pots.
Grow them on, harden them off, and plant out in a sunny site with freedraining soil, or in pots, when the threat of frosts has passed.