BUY DAHLIA TUBERS EARLY

Snap up the best ones from specialist dahlia suppliers by getting your order in now

For the best choice of dahlias, get your order in now. Garden centres will stock a selection over the coming months, but specialist suppliers have the greatest choice and they’ll be snapped up quickly. There’s a mind-boggling array of dahlias with different flower forms – peony, waterlily, pompom, decorative, orchid, anemone-flowered and cactus – in almost every colour you can imagine. Some are low-growing and perfect for containers; others have tall wiry stems and single flowers that are great for wild borders in among grasses, and many of them make great cut flowers. Dahlias are tender plants so they can’t be planted outside until mid-May, but if you have a protected, frost-free space, such as a greenhouse or conservatory, you can get ahead and plant up tubers earlier. When you receive your tubers store them somewhere frost-free, cool and dark. Then, in April, pot them up into containers filled with multipurpose compost. Grow on, harden off and then plant out in May.

‘Dark Butterfly’ Waterlily type with cream, yellow and rose-pink flowers. H1m (3ft 3in) S70cm (28in)

‘Verrone’s Obsidian’ Near black narrow star-like flowers with golden centres. H and S60cm (2ft)

‘Art Deco’ Slightly twisted orange petals with dark red undersides. Good in pots. H and S40cm (16in)

‘Eveline’ Exquisite white flowers blushed with lilac. Good cut flower. H1m (3ft 3in) S60cm (2ft)

‘David Howard’ Golden orange blooms and dark foliage; free-flowering. H1m (3ft 3in) S70cm (28in)

‘Labyrinth’ Fabulous shaggy petals in peachyorange and shocking pink. H90cm (3ft) S60cm (2ft)

DELIGHT IN DAHLIAS Order tubers now to create your own summer extravaganza, including varieties such as jazzy ‘Dutch Carnival’