Gardening Green with Doug
Dear Dahlia
By Doug Oster
October 15, 2024
The morning sun streams through the trees illuminating a rainbow of dahlia blossoms in Amy Krut’s garden, which surrounds the front of her house on three sides. Hundreds of colorful flowers in a wide range of shapes, sizes, variegations, and colors create a spectacular display.
She enjoys the title of crazy dahlia lady, “I love it, it's so fun, I am crazy, I’ll admit to it,” she says with a laugh about the moniker. “It starts discussions, she adds, I know I’ve helped other people to become involved in growing dahlias.”
Her obsession started when she scalped the front yard with a lawn mower. With space to fill she went to a big box store, bought some dahlia tubers, and her love of dahlias would grow as each season passed. “Every day you come outside, there's something new, she says while standing under an eight-foot-tall dahlia. Just watching it go from that little tuber to this big plant, some of them have 25 buds on them at one time.”
There are 250 varieties planted in fabric pots, a technique she’s trying for the first time, with much success. One positive to growing in the bags has been less disease. Dahlias can succumb to gall, which can be spread through wet soil, the fabric pots prevent that from happening.
To control pests, she has turned to integrated pest management, using good bugs to eat the bad bugs. One side of the garden faces a busy road, where drivers are treated to swaths of color from the flowers. “It's so much fun during rush hour,” she says smiling. “People hang out and wave at me, and tell me how much they enjoyed driving past the garden. I've had people that pull onto the street to see the rest of it, which just really blows their minds.”
Dahlias grow from a tender tuber, which is a sort of bulb that usually can’t survive a winter left in the ground. There are instances during a mild winter, with a tuber in a protected spot, it will persist. With 250 varieties to preserve, Krut and most other dahlia growers save the tubers indoors over the winter, then re-plant in the spring. “I'll store some of them in bags, but not all of them,” Krut says. “I'm new to trying to store them in bags, so of course it's all a gamble.”
After frost darkens the foliage the top of the plant is removed. She brings to tuber inside, brushes off the dirt and dries it on a rack. The tuber then goes into a container filled with vermiculite and is checked on periodically over the winter to be sure it’s not too dry or wet. Krut prefers to keep them below 60 degrees, but never close to freezing. “I kept a humidifier in there because they like a little bit of moisture,” says Krut. “Not too much, but enough moisture to keep them from shriveling.”
She’s experimenting with storing the bags by just folding over the tops along with putting others in a couple large refrigerators she found on sale for storing the tubers.
The same technique would work for other tender bulbs/tubers like caladiums, elephant ears, cannas, tuberous begonias, and others. Krut has some advice for gardeners interested in growing dahlias.
“You want to find a nice sunny spot and you want to have patience,” she says. “These don't bloom until August, September, October, so you'll be going out into your yard telling them to grow, and they're not going to listen,” she says laughing.
When asked about her favorite part of growing the flowers, Krut said, “seeing the beauty, just enjoying them, and being able to share them.”
Krut holds two open garden days per season, the second date has not been set yet. She says bring a jar to take some cut flowers home. To find out more, check out her facebook page or email crazydahlialady@gmail.com.
Fall Flower Show at Phipps Rhythm and Blooms is open, but only here for three weeks.
The Fall Flower Show at Phipps Conservatory and Botanic Gardens has opened, but it’s a short show, closing on October 27, 2024. The show pairs musical themes with flower displays. Each room is inspired by a different types of music, from rock and roll to classical, jazz, hip-hop, and more. There’s more information here. I interviewed Laura Schoch, who designed the show. Here’s our conversation from the radio show. That link also includes an interview with Dr. Michelle Duennes, co-founder of the Spotted Lanterfly Invasion Archive. She wants homeowners to catch some lanterflies for their research. Here’s more information.
To see a video of Amy's garden and photo gallery, go to dougoster.com.
Amy will be holding two open garden days to explore her garden. Saturday, Oct. 12 from 10-1 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 13 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. Please bring your own vase; they will do the cutting of the blooms. Address is 1 Virginia Terrace, Pittsburgh (Ross Township), PA 15229. Call 412-512-7384.
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