OUR FARM PRACTICES
Dahlias & Dogwood's tubers and blooms are grown here on our family farm using organic, earth-minded practices so you can shop with confidence that you’re getting the best possible product.
Soil Care
We know that soil is the lifeblood of healthy, thriving plants. Every season we take a soil sample and amend it with the recommended organic-form product to bring the nutrients in the soil back into balance.
After an initial tilling to prepare a brand new planting bed, the soil is thereafter left intact so as not to ruin the soil structure or harm beneficial soil microbes.
In the off-season, each dahlia bed is nourished with a mixed cover crop that enhances soil health by increasing organic matter, protecting from erosion, and replenishing nutrients for next season’s dahlias. This cover crop is terminated each spring through solarization.
Biodiversity
To increase plant biodiversity in our dahlia patch, every tenth bed is planted as a “bio bed” (short for “biodiversity bed”) in which we select plants that bring in beneficial insects and feed local pollinators—two things dahlias aren’t great at!
These beds are seeded and/or planted with local wildflowers, yarrow, echinacea, calendula and comfrey.
Weeding
To naturally combat weeds, we use mulch and trailing nasturtium to cover the soil. For weeds that push through, we hand weed only. Our dahlias are never sprayed with toxic herbicides.
Pests & Disease
We take a preventative approach when it comes to pests and disease with our soil care practices and weekly comfrey tea applications. These practices help produce thriving plants that are less susceptible to pests and disease.
In addition, we spray our plants with horticultural oil weekly (early morning to avoid spraying beneficial insects) and rely on beneficial insect helpers to reduce the unwanted activity of insects that harm dahlias.
To further help combat virus and disease among our dahlia patch, we cull and dispose of plants that show signs of disease or that fail to thrive and use strict harvesting sanitation practices when harvesting blooms and diving tubers.
Fertilizing
With soil test results and amendments added at the beginning of the season, as well as the use of cover crops, our fertilization needs throughout the growing season are typically low.
We do, however, fertilize our dahlias with bone meal at planting and one month thereafter to get them off to a good start.
Afterwards, we rely on weekly foliar applications of our farm-brewed (and super stinky) comfrey tea to supply our dahlias with trace minerals and keep them healthy and thriving.