Bryan Madders: Dahlias and Chrysanthemums

On June 25 Bryan Madders, experienced show judge and Chairman of the New Forest Chrysanthemum Society, gave a very colourful and informative presentation on chrysanthemums and dahlias. Chrysanthemums originated in China and became the national flower of Japan, where they are treated with great reverence. In the UK 50 years ago, 90% of gardeners grew chrysanthemums but they’re now the forgotten flower of this country.

You can grow chrysanthemums from seed, but Bryan focused on those grown from cuttings. Dig up the plants in October/November. Take off all the foliage leaving about 12-15 inches of ‘stick’ (it’ll bleed if you cut it right down). Then ‘rest’ it by keeping it in dry soil until February/March so that no growth starts through the winter. Then you can start a little watering. When the resulting shoots are long enough, take cuttings from the bottom of the stem. The plants want to live – “It’s a race between life and death,” as Bryan put it – so use a little rooting powder, no fertiliser at this stage and put them in well-drained compost. Label the cuttings even if only with the colour and date. Give a little heat, 53F/10C, keep out of the sun and don’t overwater.

Once rooted put into a cool, constant temperature and keep damp but not wet. Wait until they ‘ask’ for water – that way you’ll get a good deep root run. Dark green leaves and steady growth tells you they’re getting away nicely. If they get leggy, stake to support them, and top dress with material from the compost heap, which will also keep the roots cool. When you’re sure they’ve settled outdoors, they’ll need ‘stopping’. In other words, take the small budding top off the plant. This will wake up the dormant buds lower down, which will make more side growth and more flowers.

If you’re really sure of a good root system, you can hack the plants back by half, which will make a huge plant!

Fertilise a little but not much and restrict the number of stems. The centre buds will flower first, and therefore die first, so take out the centre flower bud and leave the ring of outer ones lower down to take over and they’ll all flower together for a super display.

Along with some wonderful slides, Bryan gave more details about types of blooms and how to prepare them for showing but I think members would agree that these are best left to the expert!
He then moved on to his favourite plant, the dahlia. Dahlias provide lots of colour through the summer and well into the autumn. They come from South America and like lots of sunshine and definitely no frost. But many gardeners here in the south don’t dig them up and if you can keep them dry and prevent them rotting, they can survive the winter underground. Bryan suggested that unless you want to take cutting from them, leave them in the ground.

He has over 100 dahlias on his allotment in Bournemouth – presumably sandy soil? – and his problem is where to store them when he wants to take cuttings. They can be stored in sand, in a soil bed in the greenhouse, in a clamp, in perlite… Just so long as they are never wet and at an even temperature of between 40-45F.

For the experts, the season starts in February. You’ll need under-soil heating cables, and careful with the water. Like established chrysanthemums plants, start the tubers off and when there’s enough material, take cuttings 2-3” long. The cut stems should be solid, not hollow. They’ll be rooted by late March/April and in flower by July and will have made tubers by the autumn. Alternatively you can break up the tubers and plant out when fear of frost has gone. Or you can grow them successfully from seed.

The babies don’t want to linger too long in the greenhouse so get them outdoors when you can, in a cool but light situation. Pot on before they are rootbound if you can’t plant them out at that stage, with a very little fertiliser and water well. When they can go outside, plant them two to three feet apart depending on the variety and by September they will have completely filled the space!

Don’t let them just grow up – stop them like the chrysanthemums. Pinch the top out and the dormant buds lower down will develop and fill up the plant.

There are a wide variety of dahlias for different uses, with many different types of blooms. Bryan showed us slides of wonderful pots in the garden full of dahlias, and they make terrific cut flowers and superbly colourful displays.

After the first frosts, wait a week or two for some dry weather, then dig them up with a spade, clear the soil around them of any little weeds and put the tuber upside down in the greenhouse to dry off slowly.
And keep a thumbnail long through the growing season – for all that pinching out.

Happy gardening!

June 2008 Rose and Sweet Pea Show Winners, judged by Bryan Madders

The tables under the window in the Catholic Church Hall looked very colourful with all the entries laid out and Bryan spent a long time deciding on the winners, who are:

Roses
Class 1: A specimen rose                          – Ann Magrath
Class 2: Any variety, 3 stems                    – Carole Doyle
Class 3: Cluster roses, 3 sprays                 – Nicky Simmonds
Class 4: The BIGGEST rose                       – Barbara Knight

Sweet Peas
Class 1: 6 stems of 1 variety                       – Margaret Crookes
Class 2: 6 stems mixed varieties                 – Jennifer Hunter
Class 3: 6 stems of an old-fashioned variety – Jennifer Hunter
Class 4: 1 stem, most highly scented           – Ray Crookes