Am I too late to plant dahlia tubers?

[WellTidy]

And if I’m not too late, can I plant direct into the ground? This is my first time to try dahlias, and I’ve bought six tubers from the garden centre. I understand that I should soak them overnight first - is that right please?

No it is not too,late and no do not soak them. I have never heard of that. Water them each evening if it has been hot. Give them a Week seaweed feed or other feed Every 2 weeks until they start to flower. Them stop,feeding.

Thanks florentina. I don't know why I thought to soak them. Probably confusing some other advice with dahlias! I am watering the whole garden each evening as many of my plants are still young, and feeding my pots with tomato feed every two weeks, so no problem to do that.

Tomato feed is fine for Dahlias but don’t make it as strong as you would for the toms. That would produce luscious leaves at the expense of the flowers.

Shall do, florentina. I hope you're enjoying your still relatively new garden. I was (and still am) very grateful for your indulgence when I was choosing many new plants for my garden. Parts of it are looking really lovely, but some parts need to be better thought through!

Monty Don planted dahlias this week on Gardeners world- you're definitely not too late!
Catch up on iplayer if you need any tips

But was Monty planting dahlias which were already in pots, and so already had strong leaf growth, Blue? I was only half watching to be honest!

He did have them in pots and he will get an earlier display. I received some of mine already potted and some as tubers. I put my tubers into the ground last week and they are just showing little leaves. I like to do it this way as I get a long display. I have had dahlias still flowering in November when it is mild.