A bit of a wild one this – a semi-cactus type, with blooms about 150cm wide. Plant height approximately 1.2m. Not subtle, but showy.

I’ve been picking dahlias for the house since July. As long as I take the trouble to snip off the spent flowers, I know they’ll just keep on flowering until the first frost gets them. That’s really good flower power!

I grow them on my allotment where they have a dedicated space allocated to them. After the frost kills the foliage (always a sad moment), I lift the tubers and shake off the earth, letting the soil dry off a bit. The tops are cut down leaving a bit of stalk and then I pack them into large plastic pots and surround them in a layer of old potting compost. They fit snuggly in the pots and will stay there, under my bench in the garage until spring. Then I shake off the compost and pot them up into some fresh compost, sometimes splitting the larger clumps and removing any rotten pieces.

The other way to increase stock is to take cuttings as the new growth appears. The newly potted tubers are placed in the greenhouse where the light and warmth helps them spring back to life. As the temperatures outside increase, I harden them off by the side of my house until they’re planted out sometime during May when the weather looks promising. And from mid summer I’m able to fill vases with these super blooms.

Favourites include deep burgundy ‘Chat Noir’ and orange flowered with dusky foliage ‘David Howard’, but there are so many to choose from I’m like a child in a sweet shop when I look at the spring catalogues. With dahlia’s you’re spoilt for choice!