How to Grow Better Dahlia Tubers Before You Dig

Dahlias are generous flowers, but they appreciate a little care after cutting. Once separated from the plant, a dahlia must rely on the water it can draw through its stem...

When people think about growing better dahlias, they usually think about the flowers. We think about the stems. During the growing season, while everyone is waiting for the flowers, we...

One of the first things everyone warns you about when you start growing dahlias is their floppy stems — especially the dinner plate varieties. Every book and article seems to...

For several days, the sky over the Hudson Valley has looked unfamiliar. The sunlight has been muted, the horizon obscured, and the air quality has at times reached levels considered...

One of the mysteries of gardening is that success doesn't always repeat itself. A dahlia that was covered with flowers last year seems less vigorous this summer. A perennial you've...

You planted your dahlias. Now comes the waiting. Every spring, gardeners find themselves looking at bare soil and wondering whether anything is happening beneath the surface. After a few weeks,...

There is something a little curious about the way peonies behave in the cultural imagination. They are treated as the aristocrats of the garden—luxurious, fleeting, extravagant—yet almost no one talks...

Many people focus intensely on peonies while they are flowering. They carefully stake them. Photograph them endlessly. Cut armfuls for the house. During those brief weeks in spring, the flowers...