Unwin's Bright Color Mix

Dahlia

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Height: 2' average mature height

Hardiness Zones: 4-8 Find my zone

Aspect: afternoon shade to full sun

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Unwin's Colorful Dahlias are grown from seed and then selected by color before growing on. These Dahlias are smaller, more compact, and naturally upright (so they don't need to be staked) than most other varieties with most blooms about three inches across. These plants are very prolific bloomers and are the backbone for our summer and fall bouquet production, the varieties included here are the ones we have selected specifically for this purpose. A single plant can produce 15-10 flowers with an 18" stem every few days starting in June and lasting all the way through the end of September. The cut flowers are long lasting and remain firm much longer than most other flowers we use.

Dahlia plants grow from tubers like potatoes and winter over just fine in zones eight and higher, but in colder climates it is best to pull up the plants at the end of the season and store your tubers in your garage or other cool location (ideally staying around 40 degrees for most of the winter) until spring. Wait to plant your tubers until around the last frost date in your area. The tubers store a lot of energy and nutrients so once they start growing they form a dense clump two feet tall in two or three weeks! Each year you can divide each plant into up to eight or ten new pieces, just be sure to leave at least one growing bud (called an "eye") on each piece.

You will receive pruned tubers with at least three eyes but often dozens - the more eyes the more stems you will get! Keep your tubers in their paper packaging until you are ready to plant them in a cool location like your garage until spring. Our Unwin's collection has 30 varieties that we have selected, some are double flowering and others are single with colors including white, black, red, purple, magenta, yellow, cream, orange, pink, and lilac. We try to pack tubers so that you get as many varieties as possible but occasionally you will get two of the same style and color in an order. Ordering more tubers means you should get more varieties. We recommend ordering at least five tubers to get enough variety to really appreciate the Unwin's group.

These are only available in late winter and spring.

Pictures Of Some Varieties Included In Unwin's Collection

Dahlia Tubers

Below is a picture showing a box of our recently harvested and divided Dahlia tubers. Tubers like these are what you will receive to start your new plants with. Some varieties produce much larger tubers than others, typically this seems to correspond with the number of stems produced in a clump. Varieties that produce fewer but larger stems also have fewer but larger tubers produced, although this isn't the case 100% of the time.

Packing Plants For Shipping

Most of our plants are shipped bare root while they are dormant from late November through April and ship via the U.S. Postal Service. Bamboo plants can be shipped in their containers year-round by UPS.

Bare root plants are soaked and wrapped together in bundles.
ictured are 10x 24 inch tall Coast Redwoods.

The bundled plants are wrapped in paper and labeled by variety.

The bundle is wetted and bagged.

Bundles of plants are secured in long boxes.

Pruning and Plant Sizes

We prune both the tops and the roots of our plants at least once per year while they are growing in our nursery to ensure they develop a strong, dense form. Regular annual pruning goes a long way to ensure a healthy branching structure and this is often a missed step in many nurseries. Pruning a plant back hard after it has been neglected pruning-wise often results in an irregular branch habit or multiple leaders so we prune early and regularly instead. We also prune the roots of our plants while they are dormant which causes them to produce a much more branched structure and helps to elimate tangled masses that hinder future development. Plants that have been root pruned establish themselves much more quickly than root bound plants. Generally, hardwood plants will be pruned in the winter and conifers will be pruned in the summer.

Before shipping plants we prune the tops and roots one last time. Conifers will usually have very little pruning except to balance out long branches. Shrubs are usually pruned to around 1-2 feet tall to encourage low branch development and small to medium sized trees are usually pruned to around 36-40 inches. Pruning trees at this height encourages dominant branches to begin forming around 3 feet from the ground which typically looks the best in most situations. However, if you want a tree to have branching start higher (some city codes require trees to not branch below 4 feet) we have longer boxes available. To request taller trees please contact us at least three days before your ship date. Depending on your location and the shipping routes there may be a fee for oversize package handling (usually about $15 for a 60 inch box).

Tall trees (Oaks, Ginkgo, large Maples, etc.) are pruned to 40 inches to encourage crown development from about 36 inches and up

Small and medium trees (short Maples, Redbuds, Stewartia, etc.) are pruned 10-20 inches above the prune line from last year

Shrubs (Weigela, Hydrangea, Viburnum, etc.) are pruned to 18 inches tall and root pruned one last time

Small plug size

Bamboo Plants Are Shipped In Their Containers

Bamboo roots are not flexible and so plants have to be shipped in their containers. These plants are heavier and are shipped separately from bare root plants. Because they are potted they can handle longer transit times so can ship via UPS Ground instead of USPS Air Mail. Potted plants can also be shipped year-round.

We regularly top our 1 gallon bamboo plants at 24-30 inches tall throughout the growing season. This results in dense, bushy foliage while allowing for economical shipping. From this size most running species will grow to 5-6 feet tall in the first spring and clumping species will usually grow to 4-5 feet tall.

1 gallon bamboo plants strapped in and ready to be sealed.

Unpacking Bare Root Plants

You will be sent tracking details as soon as your plants are shipped. Unpack your plants as quickly as possible after they are delivered. We use two types of boxes, side-sealing and top-sealing. For boxes that are taped along the whole length you can cut the tape on either side and remove the plant bundles by cutting the tape holding the bundle to the bottom. For boxes that are sealed on the top and bottom, it is easiet to open the bottom of the box (the shipping label is at the top) and pull the bundle of plants out straight out. Check that the box is empty as there can be a second bundle of plants stuck towards the top.

A bundle of trees.

When you are ready to plant, remove the trees from the plastic and soak the roots in a bucket of water for 30 seconds. Do not expose the roots to direct sunlight and do not allow them to dry out. When planting large quantities of plants we keep the plants in a black garbage bag to keep all sun and air flow away from the roots and pull each plant as soon as the planting hole is ready. Water the soil well right after planting.

What if I am not able to plant right away?

You can usually leave the plants in their shipping container unopened for 1-2 days if there were no shipping delays and you have received your plants from late November through February. Plants shipped when it is warmer can't stay in their packages for as long.

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