Gardening Tips

Depending on where you live a little frost is not a big deal. Living on the California Central Coast I don’t ever dig up my dahlias I cut them back after they have died down and compost my bed with rich organic compost. Then I add a layer of mulch to keep the moister in and the freezing to a minimum. The first frost of the year you will notice that all of the foliage is dead. I clean that up by cutting or pulling the stems off the tubers.

One great aspect of not digging up your dahlias is that the tubers grow big and multiply. Then you can always separate them out for more plants or to share with gardening friends. I have found that the Dahlia plant gets bigger and taller in the growing season, summer. You will find that you get a lot more blossoms and longer stems.

If you live in snow country dig up your dahlias a frost will turn them into mush and it is yucky. I lived in Bend OR and I would keep my dahlias in black planters so that I could bring them in easily. It can be frustrating and time consuming to dig up all of your dahlias. A friend of mine she always puts them in painted plastic containers so they look pretty and are decorative.

Remember snails, slugs, and mildew love dahlias… see related future articles on the battle between me and the mildew.

Reposted from the Organic Bytes

newsletter:

Looking for a little good news about the future of our planet? Schools across the U.S. are back in session, and a number of colleges are moving away from business as usual toward sustainability and health. The University of Washington in Seattle is just one of many examples of how educational institutions can set an example for how to do things the right way:

• UW students are exploring how to use cooking oil from campus eateries to fuel university cars.
• The student body agreed to pay up to $10.50 a quarter to buy renewable electricity — becoming one of the first in the state to go 100 percent green on the main campus.
• Food compost from the cafeterias fertilizes the flowers instead of going into the garbage.
• Due to pressure from students, campus eateries serve locally grown foods, organic fruits and vegetables and fair-trade coffee.
• Students helped the University build the new Urban Horticulture building in an ecologically friendly manner. The building features a garden roof, second-growth Washington wood and recycled concrete.

Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_1797.cfm