Update from Australia
Much has been said of the poor summers in the UK recently. Having seen the news about all the bush fires in Australia, what impact has this had on dahlia growing?
Steve Cox has e-mailed with info on conditions in Australia. It seems we are all having seasons that are "not the best" for growing dahlias....you with the cold and wet start to your summer and us with the extreme heat and no rain along with the worst bushfires in our history during our summer. Three weeks before our State Show we had 46.4C and it came with a hot wind that dried all in the garden to a black crispy mess.
Here is a picture of my dahlia plot leading up to the 46C day...70% shade cloth with 40 umbrellas underneath that and it still burned all the buds and growing tips "crispy"
Our weather has cooled now we are into Autumn and finally had some rain. The dahlias are looking superb and a joy to behold
