What It Takes to Maintain 10,000 Dahlia Plants

A behind-the-scenes look at harvesting, deadheading, and caring for dahlias throughout the blooming season.

At EarthSpoke Farms, summer means dahlia season, and right now that means caring for nearly 10,000 dahlia plants.

Our dahlia fields here on the Mendocino Coast are full of blooms this time of year, but keeping that many plants blooming takes a lot of regular maintenance. During peak season, several days of every week are dedicated almost entirely to harvesting and deadheading dahlias.

The good news for the home gardener? You probably don't have 10,000 plants to keep up with!

In a backyard cut flower garden, the same qualities that create a lot of work for us are exactly what make dahlias such a delightful flower to grow.

Dahlias Are Cut-and-Come-Again Flowers

One of our favorite things about growing dahlias for cut flowers is that they are cut-and-come-again flowers.

Rather than producing one beautiful bloom and calling it quits for the season, a healthy dahlia plant can continue producing flowers again and again. Regularly cutting flowers and removing spent blooms encourages the plant to keep putting its energy into new growth and blooms rather than seed production.

That means the flowers growing in your garden are meant to be enjoyed!

Cut them for your kitchen table. Make bouquets for friends. Bring them to your neighbors. The more consistently you harvest and care for your plants, the more opportunity you'll have to enjoy flowers throughout dahlia season.

How Often Should You Harvest Dahlias?

On our farm, Tuesdays and Thursdays are harvest days during peak dahlia season.

We move through the rows cutting flowers for farmstand sales, flower orders, our Saturday U-Picks, and other needs around the farm.

For a home gardener, you certainly don't need a farm harvest schedule. Instead, walk through your garden regularly and cut blooms as they reach the stage you want to enjoy them.

Unlike some flowers, dahlias do not continue opening significantly after they are cut, so you'll want to harvest them when they're already at a beautiful stage rather than cutting tight buds and expecting them to open later in the vase.

And don't be afraid to cut nice, long stems! Cutting farther down the plant can encourage branching and help produce more usable stems as the plant continues growing.

Why Deadheading Dahlias Matters

Then there are Mondays and Wednesdays on our farm.

Those are largely dedicated to one thing: deadheading.

And with nearly 10,000 plants, that's a lot of deadheading!

Deadheading simply means removing flowers that have finished blooming. Once a flower is spent, the plant begins directing energy toward producing seed. Removing those old flowers encourages the dahlia to continue focusing its energy on producing more blooms instead.

For home gardeners wondering how to keep dahlias blooming, consistent deadheading is one of the simplest things you can do.

Try to walk through your dahlia patch regularly and remove blooms that are past their prime. If you're already harvesting flowers frequently for bouquets, you'll naturally be accomplishing some of this work along the way.

A quick tip: spent dahlia blooms vs. new buds

If you're new to growing dahlias, it can sometimes be surprisingly difficult to tell the difference between a spent flower head and a new bud!

Take a closer look before snipping. Dahlia buds tend to be round and compact, while spent blooms are generally more pointed and irregular. You may also be able to see remnants of petals on a spent bloom.

After a little practice, you'll start recognizing the difference immediately.

What Dahlia Maintenance Looks Like on a Flower Farm

With 10,000 plants, harvesting and deadheading isn't something we can squeeze in whenever we have a spare moment. It has to become part of the weekly rhythm of the farm.

During our busiest blooming season, our week generally looks something like this:

Monday: Deadhead
Tuesday: Harvest
Wednesday: Deadhead
Thursday: Harvest
Friday and Saturday: Prepare for and host our U-Pick and keep up with everything else the farm needs

Then we start all over again.

It's a lot of work, but there are certainly worse jobs than walking through rows upon rows of dahlias with a pair of snips!

Harvest mornings are some of the most beautiful moments on the farm. We're surrounded by thousands of blooms in just about every color, form, and size imaginable, deciding which flowers are ready to be cut and watching what new varieties are beginning to bloom.

Why We Love Dahlias for Home Cut Flower Gardens

Maintaining 10,000 dahlias can be a major undertaking.

Maintaining five or ten in your backyard? That's simply delightful.

It's one of the reasons we recommend dahlias so often to gardeners who want to grow their own cut flowers.

You don't need a huge cutting garden to enjoy them. A handful of dahlia tubers planted in a sunny garden bed can provide flowers to cut throughout the season. And because dahlias come in such an incredible range of colors, sizes, and forms, you can choose varieties that fit your particular garden and the kinds of bouquets you love.

There is something special about walking outside with a pair of snips, choosing a few flowers, and bringing a bouquet inside that you grew yourself.

That's the experience we want more people to have.

Growing Dahlias for Cut Flowers

If you're considering adding dahlias to your garden next year, here are a few of the most important things to remember during blooming season:

• Harvest regularly. Don't be afraid to enjoy your flowers!
• Deadhead spent blooms to encourage continued flower production.
• Cut long stems rather than only snipping off the flower head.
• Harvest blooms once they're open, since dahlias won't substantially open after cutting.
• Keep walking your garden. Regularly checking your plants makes it much easier to catch spent flowers and harvest blooms at their best.

You don't have to maintain 10,000 plants to experience one of our favorite parts of dahlia season.

Sometimes a few plants, a pair of snips, and a vase waiting on the kitchen table are all you need.

Come Experience Dahlia Season at EarthSpoke Farms

If you'd like to see what nearly 10,000 blooming dahlias look like in person, come visit us during our summer Dahlia U-Pick season on the Mendocino Coast in Northern California. You can walk among the rows, choose your favorite blooms, and build your own bouquet to take home.

And if you'd rather grow dahlias in your own backyard, stay tuned. Our next dahlia tuber sale date will be announced soon!

Until then, we'll be out in the field.

Harvesting, deadheading, and doing it all over again.