When I arrive at
my parents in law, I always look to the dahlias
of their neighbor Kees. Every
year he grows white dahlias, at the
same spot. That can't be a coincidence. Does
he keep them in the ground during winter?
To learn more about this , my
mother in law and I went to visit his garden
and to investigate his secret.. Kees told
us the dahlias indeed stayed
in the ground during winter. Even in
the harsh winter of 2012 the dahlias survived. My
mother in law and I were speechless.
Kees revealed the secret of his
success. In the autumn he cuts off the dahlias. Ain
case frost was predicted,
Kees threw some conifer branches, compost and optionally an old
coat over his dahlias.
That was all! We decided to try this
too.
In the autumn I cut off the dahlias,
kept half of them dahlias in the
barn and the other half was left in
the ground. However when frost came, I
needed all my old coats to
protect my Hyacinths. Furthermore
I had no conifer branches like
Kees either. Therefore,
I improvised with plastic
pots filled with old newspapers.
The long and harsh winter
of 2012/2013 is remembered by every gardener. Until
April I dragged with plastic pots! Frost? pots on, thaw?
pots off.
Finally when spring had arrived I looked
at the result of my efforts. None of the dahlias in the
barn had survived,
so I was pretty desperate about the chances of the dahlias in the
ground .
However, to my astonishment, the dahlias that were left in the ground came up in June. Also my mother in law was successful with her dahlias. We were very proud of the results.
Meanwhile the dahlias are blooming. Not as overwhelming as with Kees. But of course every woman may meet her match!
However, to my astonishment, the dahlias that were left in the ground came up in June. Also my mother in law was successful with her dahlias. We were very proud of the results.
Meanwhile the dahlias are blooming. Not as overwhelming as with Kees. But of course every woman may meet her match!
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