Dahlias are often found in flower beds; the Merry Guys variety is one of the most popular. The plant does not require any specific care. Even a beginner can easily grow flowers in their summer cottage. As a result, the flower garden will sparkle with bright colors and will help lift the gardener’s mood.
Cheerful guys are a popular dahlia variety. Colorful flowers attract special attention. One has only to look at the flowerbed and the variety of colors will give you a good mood.
Characteristics of the variety
Flowers are annual plants.
A dwarf variety that needs to be pruned for the winter. He will not be able to endure the cold season. Flowers reach a height of up to 70 cm. The stem is strong, the leaves are large. The bud has a diameter of up to 10 cm. During the flowering period, the petals have a bright color that immediately catches the eye. Please note that dahlias are available in different colors.
These are red, lilac, white, pink colors. Despite the variety of shades, they all belong to the same variety. Dahlias are used to decorate flower beds. They are used to create borders. Cheerful guys look interesting in single plantings. In addition, they can be in the neighborhood with other plants. Dahlias go well with sage, petunia, and asters. The variety is suitable for creating flower arrangements.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
Cheerful guys are in great demand among flower growers. Experienced gardeners claim that flowers have a number of advantages over other plants. The main ones are the following:
- resistance to drought;
- the growing technology is quite simple;
- lush flowering;
- flowers look harmonious with other plants.
Although the Dahlia Jolly Guys have many positive characteristics, there are also some disadvantages.
Florists pay attention to the following:
- The variety is not resistant to pests. Therefore, the issue of plant protection should be approached responsibly;
- fungal diseases often affect crops. When damaged, brown spots appear on the leaves.
Requirements for soil composition
You need to choose soil for plants carefully. Dahlias will delight you with long-term flowering only if they grow on fertile soil. Particular attention should be paid to acidity; the soil should not be acidic.
To simplify the task, soil can be purchased at a specialized store. If you want to prepare the soil yourself, you need to mix fertile soil, sand, and peat. Each component must be taken in equal quantities.
What kind of soil do dahlia flowers “Jolly Fellows” like?
Although the crop is not picky about the composition of the soil, you still need to carefully prepare for planting seeds. The ground should be dug up. Also remove plant residues, weeds, and apply fertilizers (humus, manure).
If you want to get lush flowering, then the soil must have many nutritional components and have high air permeability. Heavy loamy or light soils with a high sand content are not suitable for dahlias.
Dahlias in a flowerbed
IMPORTANT : The soil should be fertilized in the fall. Thanks to the nutritional elements, next year dahlias will delight you with lush buds and beautiful flowering from July until frost. The flowers bloom alternately, so the flowerbed will always look great.
Growing seedlings
To quickly get colorful blooms, you can plant seedlings in open ground. To do this, sow seeds in containers in April. After planting, the crops need to be covered with film.
The depth of planting seeds in the soil should not be more than 2 cm, the distance between sowings should be 3 cm. After which the seeds should be sprinkled with sand and peat and lightly watered.
In order for the crops to germinate, it is necessary to maintain the temperature within 25 degrees. Shoots will appear in 14 days.
As soon as the plants reach a height of 10 cm, picking is required. To do this, you need to prepare separate containers. It is advisable to use peat pots or paper bags.
Dahlias Merry fellows need to be watered sparingly. It is best to accustom them to fresh air. Already with the arrival of May, the crops need to be taken outside.
Dahlias “Jolly Fellows” - planting seedlings: seed preparation, planting depth
Many people love large flowers. “Jolly fellows” are precisely these types of plants; among other things, they are easy to care for and do not require frequent watering. These varieties of dahlias are often found in city flower beds. These luxurious plants are able to impress both children and adults.
The only thing is that flowers need to be planted annually, because these are annual crops. For this you need quality seeds. In order to grow “Jolly Guys” seedlings, you will also need to carry out a number of activities:
- In order for flowers to gain strength in the summer, it is better to plant them from seedlings. They begin to sow seeds in March-April. Plastic bowls, cups or pots are suitable for such purposes.
- The containers are filled with soil and sown with planting material to a depth of 2-2.5 centimeters at a distance of three centimeters from each other. Then the seeds are poured, watered with warm water, and covered with film.
- In a few days the plants will sprout; when this happens, remove the plastic.
- Once the seedlings reach a height of ten centimeters, it is advisable to immediately plant them in peat pots, which can then be conveniently planted in flower beds.
- In May, it is already necessary to harden the seedlings. It is recommended to take the plants out into the air, and in June you can plant flowers in your garden plots.
Merry guys - how to grow from seeds?
How to care for flowers
Caring for dahlias is easy. It is enough to water and fertilize in a timely manner. The result will not be long in coming. Lush and colorful flowering will delight you with its splendor.
- Watering
For the first time after planting, plants need well-moistened soil. As soon as the buds appear, the number of waterings can be reduced.
On hot days, additional spraying is necessary. In August, flowers should be watered no more than once a week.
- Top dressing
Despite the fact that the plants are unpretentious, they still need fertilizer. Feeding should be carried out in 3 stages:
- 14 days after planting the seedlings in the soil. Mullein or ammonium nitrate can be used as fertilizers.
- As soon as the first buds appear. For fertilizer, you can use potassium salt or superphosphate.
- During the flowering period. It is best to fertilize using organic fertilizers.
- Weeding
When weeds appear, they must be removed immediately.
It is important that the flowering process can occur much faster if pinching is carried out. To do this, you need to leave only 3 stems of the plant.
Features of wintering tubers
In order for the tubers to be ready for planting, they must be properly stored during the winter. When the first frost occurs, you need to dig up the tubers you like. Lightly trim stems and roots.
The tubers should be immediately treated with a solution of potassium permanganate. This will protect them from fungal diseases. The tubers should dry out within a few days. They need to be left in the fresh air.
For storage you need to select wooden boxes and cover them with paper. It is important to ensure the temperature is within 10 degrees. Tubers should be checked periodically for mold. Damaged copies must be removed immediately.
Growing crops from root tubers
Dahlia Tubers Merry Guys should be planted at the end of May. First you need to prepare the holes. Their size should be 3 times larger than the planting material. Rotted manure and a layer of earth should be placed at the bottom. Carefully place the root in the hole and cover with soil.
At the end, the plants need to be watered well and mulched around. A mixture of peat and sawdust can be used as mulch.
All about seeds
Purchase
The advantage of the dahlia “Jolly Fellows” is its rapid growth and active flowering for 2-3 months. The final result of growing a crop directly depends on the quality of the seeds and the chosen sowing method.
If you wish, you can buy Jolly Guys seeds of one color, or you can purchase a package with a collection of multi-colored samples. The product summary contains useful information about the characteristics of the variety:
- height of an adult plant,
- terryness or smoothness of petals
- single or multi-row tiers
- agricultural conditions.
As a rule, simple anemoid flowers bloom on dwarf stems (up to 40 cm), and varieties reaching 70 cm are crowned with large double dahlias. At the same time, the first group attracts consumers with the large number of buds and continuous flowering, and the second group with the amazing structure of the petals (there are fewer baskets themselves on such dahlias).
The seeds of the Merry Guys are large. They can be collected independently from flowering crops. Germination lasts up to 3 years. However, it should be taken into account that seeds collected in a flowerbed sometimes do not produce an exact repetition of your favorite variety. You must be prepared for the fact that dahlias will grow in the flowerbed, different in height and color, but no less beautiful.
The same risk exists when a plant self-sows. If the seeds are not removed in time, then as they ripen, they will fall to the ground and some of them will overwinter well, giving life to young dahlias in the spring.
On a note! The chance of growing beautiful Cheerful guys from seeds is much higher than from tubers. It is very difficult to maintain the health of the annual dahlia roots throughout the winter.
Picking from a bush
The collection of planting material must be approached very responsibly. Moreover, experienced gardeners recommend stocking up on them for future use. What if summer doesn’t go well and you won’t be able to replenish the bag with fresh seeds in the new season?
Faded buds are left on the bush until completely dry. When the achene begins to crumble easily, literally pouring dark brown seeds onto the ground, you can tear it off and pack it in a paper bag or any other container.
If suddenly the plant has not had time to ripen, then the half-raw material can be laid out in one layer on paper in a warm room for final drying. It is important to remember that the quality of such a collection is much lower than that taken from the bush.
Dahlias in landscape design
Flowers are often used to decorate flower beds. Since the plants are unpretentious, they are in demand among gardeners. Dahlias are grown in flower beds, garden beds, and on the lawn.
Flowers look interesting in single plantings. Bright inflorescences catch the eye and delight with their long flowering.
In addition, dahlias harmonize perfectly with other plants. Many gardeners make flower arrangements using asters, marigolds, and sage. Good neighbors for dahlias, which make the flower bed more attractive and bright.
Reproduction methods
Most gardeners prefer to propagate the crop not only by seed, but also by vegetative methods. The most commonly used methods of reproduction are:
- seedless;
- seed seedling;
- vegetative by dividing root tubers.
Since dahlias do not actively form tubers, many gardeners propagate the ornamental crop by seed seedlings.
