Dahlia 'David Howard', How Tall Will It Grow?

Spring 2015

The Dahlia 'David Howard' has been flowering in the herbaceous border throughout the summer and autumn and will continue to do so until the first frost of the winter. Back in late spring, May, the first shoots began to emerge through the soil and it was hard to envisage the height this plant would eventually reach. A five foot tall plant support was constructed out of coppiced birch to shore up its future growth, but had the gardeners got the correct height? 

2 inches tall

Well, as the photograph shows, the plant support can no longer be seen and the Dahlia has now reached over six foot tall with a profusion of burnt orange, double flowers against its dark foliage. Once the first autumn frost arrives the foliage will be blackened and the plant will have to cut down. To protect it over the winter, rather than lifting the tuber, a thick layer of mulch will be placed over it, this tuber has been in the border since the spring of 2012 when it was moved from a small border in the quad. 

Autumn, 6 foot tall