The Benefits of Growing Dahlias

How the masculine craft of growing dahlias can benefit your health, home, and relationships while teaching patience. Plus the essentials of getting started.

Source: Canva

You’ll never catch me at the waterside with a rod waiting for something that may never happen. And if I paint a room, you can guarantee that I’ll cut corners. But dahlias are a different matter.

It began when my then wife wanted flowers in the yard. Something interesting to look at from the kitchen window. So far, we had only a postage-stamp lawn surrounded by high wooden fencing.

This turned into a point of contention, but not knowing the first thing about horticulture, I preferred to keep it on the back burner.

Then, while watching the movie version of Graham Greene’s Travels with My Aunt, I remembered my father’s lush and vibrant dahlias.

Visualizing myself deadheading on late-summer evenings with a bent briar dangling from my mouth, I phoned my father the following day for advice. He was only too pleased to accompany me to the garden center. But before I tell you what we bought and how I mastered the art of growing dahlias, let’s take a look at the benefits.

5 Benefits of Growing Dahlias

1. Exercise and Movement

Unless your soil is naturally loamy or you’re planting in pots, preparing or “amending” the earth is essential. This is the most physically demanding task in the whole process, especially if your soil is clay-heavy, as mine was. It meant adding a 2–3 inch layer of compost and horticultural grit and turning it in with a fork.

It takes a while and leaves you with muscles you didn’t know you had.

Digging up or “lifting” the tubers at the end of the season isn’t quite as taxing and is often unnecessary if you’re in a mild climate with good soil.

But most significant is the day-to-day care; it’s an excellent way of increasing non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT as it’s better known. This refers to small actions that make up a substantial part of our daily calorie burn, which include light lifting and gentle stretching. In the tending of dahlias, you’re tying stems to stakes, deadheading spent blooms, disbudding, inspecting for pests, pulling out weeds, and watering. All of this counts toward NEAT.

2. Unwinding After Work

I think this could partly explain why dahlias became a traditionally male pastime. Back in the day when the man of the house was the sole breadwinner, daily nurturing was a way of winding down after a hard day.

In the calm of evening, it requires just enough concentration to take your mind off work without feeling in any way demanding—either physically or mentally.

Aside from that, evening is the best time for watering and deadheading. It allows the plant to fully recover from the heat and look vibrant for the following morning, which enhances mood.

Source: Canva

3. Relationships

Although we had flowering plants only from August through November, my spouse was more than satisfied with the heaps of fresh-cut flowers. In fact, the more she harvested, the faster and more abundantly they grew back.

I can’t tolerate floral scents for long, so a never-ending supply of roses in the house would have been a disaster. But—apart from a few rare varieties—dahlias are fragrance-free.

They also make beautiful gifts. In fact, I think most of our neighbors’ houses were decorated with my dahlias until they grew their own. After dividing the tubers in spring, I gave the surplus to others in the neighborhood who were keen to try the hobby.

It’s a wonder Dale Carnegie didn’t include dahlias in How to Win Friends and Influence People.

4. Creative Outlet

My spouse was able to develop her creativity with stunning cut flower arrangements. And I was overjoyed that I’d succeeded in mastering the art of cultivating the biggest dahlias in the neighborhood. It became a kind of “who caught the bigger fish.” I swear to this day that one of mine was way over the known maximum diameter of 14 inches.

My huge dinner plates stood in the back row. My decorative varieties in the middle. And at the front were my perfectly round ball and pom-pom varieties, whose geometric structures reminded me of the honeycomb paper lanterns that had always fascinated me. I don’t meditate, but I did find myself staring at them for hours.

An amateur photographer friend from work even came over occasionally for macro shots.

At the time, I was taking an interest in tattoos and toyed with the idea of getting a mandala-like dinner plate on my upper arm.

5. Teaching Patience

Unlike fishing, you’re not waiting for something that may never happen; an abundance of blooms is guaranteed if you work through every step of the cultivating process. And unlike painting a room, you don’t set the pace. After carrying out each step, you wait until the plant is ready for the next.

In principle, growing dahlias works in the same way as financial investing or career-building. You create optimal conditions and allow the rest to unfold. It’s a lesson in discipline, patience, and reward.

There are other men’s craft plants like chrysanthemums, peonies, and bearded iris that work similarly. But none perform quite as magically as the dahlia.

Let’s take a look at how it’s done.

Source: Canva

How to Grow Dahlias

Here are the basics of growing dahlias, but for more extensive information, go to The American Dahlia Society.

Creating Optimal Conditions

To grow dahlias successfully, you need three basic components: well-draining, nutrient-rich soil; shelter from the wind; and at least six hours of direct sunlight.

My south-facing postage-stamp yard with its high wooden fencing provided sun and shelter, and I was able to amend my clay-heavy soil as described above.

Originating from Mexico, dahlias prefer warm climates. Referencing the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, most guides advise growing them as annuals north of Zone 8, and as perennials south of Zone 7. As a rule of thumb, lift and store your tubers during winter if the earth is prone to freezing. Leave them in the ground in warm climates or if grown in tubs that you can move to a greenhouse. I’ll give you more on overwintering in a moment.

By the way: for those not familiar with gardening terms, annuals need replanting each year, while perennials can be left in the ground all year round.

What You Need to Grow Dahlias

During my first season of growing dahlias, I had the benefit of my father’s invaluable advice. He was with me at the garden center, and he came over once a week to inspect my progress.

Seeds or Tubers?

The first thing we had to decide was whether we wanted seeds or tubers.

Seeds are cheaper, so they’re a good idea if you’re filling a large bed.

They’re also pollinator-friendly. Producing single-petal flowers, their center is exposed, making them accessible for insects like bees, butterflies, and hoverflies.

But because they’re open-pollinated, each seed yields a different plant.

For more control over color and form, we chose tubers.

These are clones of the original plant, making results predictable. With over 57,000 known cultivars, which come in various shapes, sizes, and colors, there’s at least one to suit every taste and environment. Each bag of tubers included a photo of the finished dahlia, which made our choice easier.

But the greatest advantage of tubers is their embedded nutrient supply, which allows for faster, more robust growth and larger flowers.

Before buying, give them a squeeze to check for firmness. Dead tubers feel dry and hollow.

Basic Equipment

For planting out and lifting at the end of the season, you’ll need the following equipment:

• Bamboo or wooden stakes of 3–7 feet depending on the expected height of your dahlias.
• A garden fork to turn in amendments like compost and horticultural grit, and to loosen the soil before lifting.
• A spade to dig holes for larger tubers.
• A dibber to create holes for smaller tubers.
• A shovel to sever feeder roots before lifting.
• Pruning shears for deadheading and cutting back dead or dying foliage before digging up the plant.
• A sharp knife for dividing tubers.

Source: Canva

Planting Dahlias

For Tubers

Before planting, wait until late spring when the soil has reached 60°F.

1. Plant tubers 6–8 inches deep with the eye or sprouting end up. Place small dahlias 2 feet apart and large ones 3 feet apart.
2. Install stakes while planting. Doing so later risks damaging the tubers.
3. Watering tubers directly after planting causes them to rot. Wait until the first shoots have come through.

For seeds

1. Sow seeds on a seedling tray filled with compost. Cover lightly with the same compost and mist with water. Leave in an area of about 60°F to germinate, ideally a greenhouse.
2. If growing in a greenhouse, move them out gradually (adding an hour each day) before planting them outside in a bed. They need to get used to the warmer air.
3. Again, install stakes while planting out.

When the plants have four sets of leaves, pinch out the center. This results in a bushier plant.

Tending to Your Dahlias

Dahlias require daily attention, at best in the evening. This includes:

• Tying stems to their stakes as they grow.
• Deadheading shriveled and discolored blooms. This enables the plant to direct its energy into creating more flowers and stronger roots instead of producing seeds.
• Disbudding is the removal of smaller buds that flank the central flower. The plant can then spend its resources on just one flower, which gives larger blooms and a stronger stem.
• Weeding eliminates competition for water and nutrients, improves ventilation to avoid rot and fungi, and gives insects and pests nowhere to hide. Weed daily to prevent it from turning into a big job.
• Checking for pests. If your plants are prone to earwigs and slugs, scatter an organic treatment like Sluggo Plus. For prevention, smear petroleum jelly over the base of the stem—this makes the surface too slippery for pests to climb. Or secure organza bags over your blooms at night to keep earwigs out.

But don’t water daily. For larger blooms, deep water once or twice a week. If you add fertilizer, make sure it’s low nitrogen. You’ll otherwise have an abundance of foliage with few flowers.

Source: Canva

Lifting and Storing Tubers

The plant dies after the first fall frost.

If you started with seeds, you’ll find that these will also have produced tubers. Lift and store only your favorites, leaving the rest in the earth.

This is how you go about it:

Lifting and Preparing

1. Wait a week after the frost before cutting off foliage and digging up.
2. Loosen the soil with a fork about a foot away from the stem.
3. Shift the earth with a shovel.
4. Separate long feeding roots before digging out the clump.
5. Cut off the stem, leaving about 6 inches attached.
6. If you have more than one variety, tag at the stem or use a special marker available at garden centers.
7. Gently brush off the tubers and leave them in a dry place for 24–48 hours. This is known as “curing,” which prevents rot.

Storing

1. Line a cardboard box with newspaper.
2. Pour in a 2-inch layer of slightly damp vermiculite.
3. Place your first layer of tubers 1 inch apart on top of this.
4. Cover with more vermiculite before adding another layer of tubers.
5. Finish with at least 2 inches of vermiculite.
6. Store in a dry, indoor area of about 40-50°F.
7. Check every couple of weeks, misting the vermiculite if the tubers show signs of shriveling.

Some gardeners use sawdust, peat moss, or sand instead of vermiculite.

Don’t divide tubers until the spring.

Leaving Out

If you treat your dahlias as perennials and leave them in the earth instead of lifting and storing, cover the stalks with an 8–12 inch layer of mulch, or 4–6 inches in warmer zones. Airy materials like shredded fallen leaves, bark, or straw are most suitable.

To prevent waterlogging, cover the bed with a tarp, weighing it down at the edges with large stones.

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I didn’t expect a few tubers to turn into a craft I’d return to year after year. But that first season taught me more than I expected—not just about soil, staking, and deadheading, but the value of steady, methodical work while trusting the natural process.

And all because my ex-wife wanted something nice to look at from the kitchen window.

© 2026 J. Richardson