I’m often told, “you don’t look much like a gardener” this always surprises me…what does a gardener look like?

It's still seen as a hobby for the older generation and I suppose I only started because I had moved into a house with a large garden, most people not thinking about it until they have their own garden to get to grips with.

Yet the benefits of gardening on all generations are clear, working with plants, seeing them grow and flourish, being out in all seasons and working the land can only benefit physical and mental health with the government even looking into the benefits of gardening with a view to making it prescribeable on the NHS. Now that’s a prescription I’m sure people wouldn’t mind paying for!

Dazzling Dahlias

If I mention Dahlias to my mother, a keen gardener, she has a look come over her face, although she loves them she was brought up thinking of them as a duty and chore to grow. The thinking on them has changed a lot with people now enjoying them in their borders and not just confining them to the veg patch.

There really isn’t that much to growing them and the rewards of their showy glory filling my borders and vases at this time of year are definitely worth it.

Originating from Mexico they were grown as a possible food, tasted, found disgusting and ignored for 200 years until a Swedish botanist Ander Dahl bred them, producing hybrids.

By the 1830s they were very popular across Europe the Victorians loving the brighter colours and starting to use them in beds.

With catalogues coming through the post daily put them on your wish list as part of next year's garden plan.

There is so much choice but if bright and bold is your favourite like mine try any of the following:

For deep reds try Dahlia ‘Chat Noir’ which has long stems and a long vase life reaching a height of 100cm or Dahlia ‘Thomas A Edison’ which is another long standing favourite at a height of 120cm.

For the perfect orange try Dahlia ‘Happy Halloween’ reaching a height of 130cm and for the perfect pink you can’t go wrong with Dahlia ‘Juliet’ growing to a height of 90cms.

Tubers will be dispatched around Feb/Mar, they then need to be potted up in compost rich in leaf mould then popped in a cold frame.

Slow growth is what we are looking for here as too much too soon would be counterproductive. In late May they will need to be planted out and don’t forget to stake them.

My soil is reasonable well drained so I choose not to lift my tubers but leave them in the ground, and cover them with a good layer (5-7cm) of mulch.

To keep flowers going until the first frosts regular deadheading is the answer but it can be difficult to tell the spent flowers from the new buds….shape is the way to tell with the spent buds being conical and the new buds more round in shape.

There are many gardens to visit to enjoy the Dahlias in September, why not pop along to the Secret Gardens of Sandwich for their Dahlia Festival during September.