Dahlias are hugely popular with good reason. They’re easy to grow and flower reliably over a long season – often right up to the first frosts – and they’re invaluable in late-summer planting schemes.
Dahlia Mignon Mixed is a low-growing variety that bears bold, yellow-centred blooms in a range of dazzling colours. It works particularly well in pots and containers and provides a generous supply of pollen for bumblebees. Put it to the test by sowing the free Mignon Mixed seeds that come with your subscriber edition of our February 2021 issue.
Your February issue also includes free seeds of a gorgeous pink Echinacea, Large Flowered. Here’s our video sowing guide.
More advice on growing dahlias
Dahlias come in an incredible range of forms and colours. Find out more about growing these glorious plants in our collection of features and projects.
Six Months of Seeds – February extras
Find out how to sow your free dahlia seeds in our practical video guide, below.
You Will Need
- Dahlia seeds
- Multi-purpose compost
- Pots
- Sieve
- Pencil or dibber
- Plant label
- Watering can with rose attachment
Step 1
Pour multi-purpose compost into a small pot. Gently tamp it level about 1cm below the rim, to leave room for watering.
Step 2
Place the seeds about 30cm apart on the surface. Cover lightly with more compost, ideally using a sieve to remove any lumps. Label your pot.
Step 3
Water using a small watering can with a rose, so the seeds are not dislodged. Place in a warm spot and keep the compost just moist.
Step 4
Pricking out
Once your seedlings have germinated, gather some slightly larger pots, fresh multi-purpose compost and a dibber. Fill one new pot with compost.
Step 5
Holding a seedling by a leaf, use the dibber to lever it out of the compost, taking care to bring all of the roots with it.
Step 6
Make a hole for each seedling in the new pot, several centimetres apart, then lower in the seedlings. Firm them in and don’t forget to label your pot.
Step 7
Water your seedlings in using a watering can with a rose attachment.
Coming up – more free seeds
March: Pollinator mix and sunflower
Perfect for pollinators, our March packs are worth £5.50
- Pollinator Mix – a wildlife-friendly mix of beautiful flowers, rich in nectar and pollen
- Sunflower Sunburst Mix – super-easy to grow, the cheery large flowerheads are a magnet for pollinators and the seeds are a great source of food for birds later in the year
April: Tomato and basil
The taste of summer. Packs worth £4.80
- Tomato ‘Red Cherry’ – heavy crops of small fruits with delicious, sweet fruits flavour. Can be grown outside or in an unheated greenhouse
- Basil ‘Lettuce Leaf’ – this unusual basil bears enormous, frilly-edged leaves, which have a sweet aromatic flavour you can enjoy all summer long
May: Cosmos and carrot
A couple of classics in this double pack worth £5
- Cosmos ‘Purity’ – this much-loved favourite will give you a dazzling display of large white flowers right through summer. Also great for cut flowers
- Carrot ‘Royal Chantenay 3’ – sow direct in the ground, or in containers. Kids will love growing and eating this fast-growing variety and the small, sweet roots are delicious cooked whole
June: Zinnia and cornflower
Get speedy results with this colourful couple, worth £4.80
- Zinnia ‘Early Wonder’ – large dahlia-like blooms in a mix of showy, vibrant colours
- Cornflower ‘Blue Ball’ – easy to grow, with masses of bee-friendly blooms, cornflowers are the perfect cottage garden flower