Fothergill's Dahlia Bishop's Children Seeds

Details:

• Botanical Name: Dahlia variabilis 'Bishop\'s Children', a premium, highly ornamental color-selected strain within the genus.
• Plant Class: Half Hardy Perennial, growing rapidly from an early spring sowing to flower heavily in its very first year, while developing underground tubers that can be overwintered.
• Dramatic Dark Bronze Foliage: Features a striking architecture of deeply cut, dark bronze-purplish leaves and near-black stems, providing a magnificent year-long contrast even before the first flowers emerge.
• Opulent Jewel-Toned Blooms: Bears an abundance of large, open-centered single flowers in a brilliant, fiery palette of scarlet, glowing crimson, apricot, and deep pink. Each flower features a dark, prominent central disc that contrasts beautifully with the petals.
• Stately Tall Border Asset: Naturally forms a robust, multi-branched, and elegant upright framework reaching a mature height of 90cm (36in). It is highly effective when planted in drifts through the middle or back of sunny borders, cottage gardens, or clustered in large patio statement pots.
• Pollinator Magnet: Unlike complex double dahlias, the open single-petalled form of this variety allows honeybees, bumblebees, and butterflies effortless access to the central nectar reserves, turning your garden into a buzzing haven.
• Exquisite Cut Flower: The long, sturdy, dark stems and exceptionally vibrant blooms make this an elite choice for home floral arrangements, holding up beautifully in a vase.

Care Instructions:

• Sowing Position: Start seeds indoors from February to April by sowing on the surface of good quality, moist seed compost in pots or trays. Lightly cover the seeds with a thin layer of vermiculite or compost. Maintain a warm, consistent indoor temperature of 15–20°C for rapid germination. Position in full sun.
• Planting Out & Spacing: Once seedlings are large enough to handle, prick them out into individual pots. Grow them on in cooler but frost-free conditions, hardening them off gradually before planting out into their final garden positions in late May or June, once all risk of spring frost has safely passed. Space plants roughly 40–50cm apart.
• Moisture & Nutrition: Dahlias are hungry plants that thrive in rich, fertile, well-drained soil. Incorporate plenty of organic matter or well-rotted manure into the planting area. Water deeply and regularly, especially during hot summer spells, and feed weekly with a high-potash liquid fertilizer once the first flower buds begin to form.
• Deadheading & Tubers: Pinch out the growing tips of young plants early on to encourage a bushier habit with more flowers. Deadhead faded blooms regularly to stimulate a non-stop succession of fresh flowers right up until the first autumn frosts. After the first frost blackens the foliage, the underground tubers can be lifted and stored in a cool, dry, frost-free shed to replant the following spring.