What's your favourite dahlia?

[QuietKingdom]

I can't decide between so many beautiful looking dahlia tubers that are on offer at the moment. I've never grown them before but I've decided to create a cutting garden at my allotment and I'm dreaming about bouquets of dahlias all summer long. I especially like the red, bronze and pink ones but do I want big pom poms or bee friendly giant daisies? What is everyone else growing?

@garlicandsapphires the ones I leave in the ground come back more reliably than the ones I lift

I left them all in the ground and mulched for the first time last year. in previous years I havent bothered mulching and I leave some in the ground, I think they've all come back up. at least the majority have.

I bought a packet of Unwins Dwarf Dahlia seeds a couple of years ago and it was a really cheap way of getting loads of lovely Dahlias. The only thing is if you were wanting a particular colour scheme it’s hard to achieve if you’re planting out young plants. Also slugs just adored the young plants I put out.

My cafe au lait was a real disappointment. However Labyrinth is a corker. Flowers profusely for weeks and weeks and weeks. Penhill Watermelon too. Jowey Winnie is a stunner but mine didn't overwinter and rotted so going to need a new one!

I love Labyrinth @GuyFawkesDay and was planning to buy it this year, but it's sold out everywhere! Am considering Penhill Watermelon instead.

I think in the UK whether you need to lift depends on your soil and climate. Allium bulbs can rot in the damp bits of my garden, so dahlias wouldn't stand a chance. Also, always a risk we get another 'Beast from the East' type winter which dahlias really wouldn't like.

We don't lift ours. They get cut back to the ground when the first frosts of winter start to make them look sorry. Then well mulched with straw and composted bark - several inches worth.

They are grown on an allotment, for cutting - so they either make it or they don't. So far, they always have

I bought a yellow cactus dahlia last year from Lidl. It was £1.49 and I had so many blooms on it, far more than on the expensive ones I ordered from The Netherlands.

I'm going to buy some more this year, they had them in this week so next time I go in I will have a good sort through the box.

My new dahlias have just arrived am I potting them up somewhere non frosty?

@ChardonnaysPetDragon

I currently have £90 worth of Dahlias in Sarah Raven shopping basket, which I'm trying very hard to whittle down to something reasonable.

Same here

Hi, I wouldn't recommend Sarah Raven, inordinately expensive. I usually find that if something catches your eye on the SR website and you google it you'll find the same plants/ seeds elsewhere at a fraction of the price. Farmer Gracy is an amazing online nursery with stacks of exotics ( and the Dahlias mentioned here).