On 14 May, the Grayshott Gardeners had a very entertaining evening with Darren Everest who talked about his passion for growing and showing dahlias.

Since 2011, with the help and support of his wife, he has been showing large displays of his Dahlias at The Edenbridge and Oxted Agriculture show winning nine consecutive Gold Medals, including Large Gold and the President’s Award for Best Exhibit in the whole show. He has won at Lullingstone Castle and at RHS Wisley. In 2021 he was awarded the prestigious ‘personality of the Year’ award by the National Dahlia Society – one of their highest accolades. He has also appeared on televisions Gardeners World.
October is the end of the season and keeps an eye for the frosts when he lifts and dries the crowns. The crowns must stay dry through the winter and Darren told us not to store them in newspaper in sheds. Sheds get damp in the wet winters, and the Dahlias can rot. He suggested a box with sawdust in a frost-free dry place, a garage or a cupboard in the house.

In January he checks the tubers for any damage or decay and won a hot bed, soak anen he is happy he puts them on a tray with a liberal amount of multi-purpose compost leaving the crowns exposed. The trays are then placed on a hot bed and watered well. This encourages new growth and shoots should appear. Keeping an eye for rotting tubers, after a few more weeks you can take cuttings. The best cuttings are in early April but do not take the eye on the tuber otherwise the tuber will not shoot again.
When planted out take the tops out so they shoot from the sides and then produce better blooms. It takes 27 days from bud to bloom.
The pests to look out for are slugs and snails, green and blackfly and earwigs. The best way to deter earwigs is to rub Vaseline on the stems. Dahlias need a lot of feeding and water and do well in a border of their own because of this. Dahlias do most of their growing at night.
Darren ended his talk with photographs of his champion blooms at shows which were very impressive. He also told us of his book which will be launched at The Chelsea Flower Show next week.
You can get more detailed information from Darren’s website: