Peaches and Cream Dahlias

Last year, I grew a small garden of Dahlias for the very first time.

I’m looking forward to taking another crack at it again this upcoming season.

You can read more about my initial Dahlia growing efforts in this earlier post HERE.

Anyway, this year, I plan to focus exclusively on growing more Peaches and Cream Dahlias. 

And throughout this post, I’m happy to share a little more about my experience growing this stunning flower.

From the very first time I laid eyes on a Peaches and Cream Dahlia bloom from online gardening sites, I swooned. Literally swooned.

The layers upon layers of near-perfect geometrically arranged petals are a marvel of Mother Nature’s genius.

The soft coloring is like an irresistible and delicious sherbet that reads more pink to my eye than peach but the petals are extraordinary and resemble mini sculpted feathers or maybe even angel wings.  

I just had to grow my own.

Little did I know that getting my hands on a Peaches and Cream tuber would be elusive and ultimately a bit pricy.

I couldn’t find a Peaches and Cream tuber anywhere, which was a testament to the popularity of this particular variety. 

Just as I was about to resign myself to disappointment, luck struck.

I stumbled upon a Dahlia grower on Etsy who still had a just a handful of Peaches & Cream tubers for sale.  

At the time, because this was such a sought-after variety, there was a sweet (actually bitter) premium on the tuber ($60). 

Ouch!

Anyway, I bit the bullet and purchased the overpriced Peaches and Cream tuber.

It arrived with the cutest little sprout on one end and a sharpie-inscribed label.

Typically, most tubers will only cost about $7-15 dollars and often, for a trio of tubers or even more.

In addition to their stunning beauty throughout their lifetime, Dahlia tubers offer a huge end-of season payoff too.

I’ll explain that extra perk a little further down in in this post. 

Thanks to the voracious deer and other pesky wildlife that inhabit my neighborhood, I worried that planting Dahlias in the ground would be too much of a breakfast (and dinner) invitation to those unwanted guests.

So, I opted to plant all my new tubers in container pots and grow them on my back porch where I could keep a watchful, careful eye on them this first time out.

In addition to the lone Peaces and Cream tuber, I planted several other varieties including; Prince of Orange, Golden Scepter, Tirza, American Dawn, Jowey Winnie and White Alva’s (all more reasonably priced).

If you’re thinking about growing Dahlias, now is the time to start scoping out your Dahlia tubers, even though they don’t actually get planted until around June.

You can find a variety of Dahlia tubers at gardening shops, home improvement stores and from many independent growers online.

Of course, you can also opt to grow your own from seeds but I didn’t have much luck with my dahlia germination efforts last year.

Can you imagine how excited I was when the first signs of a blooms started to appear among these thick, deep green leaves?

Once these initial blooms emerge, it takes no time at all for the full flower to continue to present itself to the world. 

Because my dahlias were being grown in pots, I used frequent time-release fertilizer, and I also closely monitored the soil for appropriate moisture.

Dahlia stems also grow very tall and leggy and need support sticks, especially in pots.

Before I started my small-scale dahlia crop, I did a quite a bit of research and info-browsing about this beloved flower.

There is a ton of information available to help you jump start your Dahlia project and keep your Dahlias on a healthy growing track.

Favorite Dahlia Resources

• The American Dahlia Society
• Floret Flower 
• Petalback Farm
• Anya, The Garden Fairy (Instagram)
• Sarah Raven (YouTube)

Dahlias are definitely an interesting flower.

At the end of the season when it’s clear the flower has run its course, Dahlias can be harvested for their seeds which in turn, when planted, will produce a dahlia that is different than the parent dahlia.

However, you can duplicate the parent Dahlia if you plant a tuber.

Tubers are the only way to grow a specific Dahlia variety, like Peaches and Cream.

And remember that Dahlia tuber payoff I mentioned earlier in this post?

Well, here’s where that comes in. 

While Dahlias are growing in the soil, they are also propagating new tubers, which are the same variety of the parent Dahlia.

So, that single Peaches and Cream tuber was underground giving birth to lots of other tubers, which I was able to collect and separate at the end of the season. 

From that one tuber I was able to harvest nearly a dozen new Peaches and Cream tubers.

Look closely, and you’ll see that original, sharpie-labeled Peaches tuber.

And look at all the new tubers attached to her.  I love it.

I carefully separated all the new tubers, and individually wrapped them and put them in storage over this past winter.

I’ll start planting them in June, keeping my fingers and green thumbs crossed for a colorful and successful crop.

Hopefully, all my new Peaches and Cream offspring will produce as many pretty blooms as their mother and later, at the end of the season, they’ll propagate even more tubers.

If my tubers survive and thrive, I should be able to grow many more tuber-generations…. all from that single Peaches and Cream tuber purchase.

When one tuber propagates like that, that’s a pretty good payoff in my gardening book.

Thanks for popping by.

I hope you enjoyed this closer look at Peaches and Cream Dahlias.

Perhaps you’re inspired to grow a few yourself this year.

Happy gardening prep.

See you back here next time. ♥