How to Grow and Care for Night Silence Dahlia
A comprehensive guide to the Night Silence dahlia's life cycle, ensuring healthy growth and the successful return of its distinctive blooms each year.
The Night Silence dahlia is a plant known for its dramatic appearance. The deep burgundy petals, which can appear almost black in certain light, are tipped with a crisp, contrasting white. This coloration makes it a popular variety for gardeners and floral designers, creating a focal point in any garden and adding elegance to arrangements.
Night Silence Dahlia Characteristics
As a Formal Decorative dahlia, ‘Night Silence’ has fully double flowerheads with flat or slightly incurved petals. The blooms reach four to six inches in diameter, presenting a mix of dusky pink, muted purple, and deep burgundy hues. This complex coloration provides a vintage appearance, with darker tones at the center and on the underside of the petals. The plant reaches a mature height of approximately four feet with strong stems, making it an excellent choice for cut flowers due to its long vase life.
Planting Guidelines
The ideal time to plant tubers is in the spring, after all danger of frost has passed and the soil has warmed. These dahlias require a location that receives at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight daily to thrive and produce the most prolific blooms.
Dahlias flourish in fertile, well-draining soil rich in organic matter, so amending the area with compost is beneficial. When planting, dig a hole four to six inches deep. Place the tuber horizontally with the “eye,” or growth bud, facing upwards, and space tubers 18 to 24 inches apart to ensure good air circulation.
Seasonal Care and Maintenance
These plants require regular, deep watering, particularly during dry periods, to keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged. Overly saturated soil can lead to tuber rot.
Use a low-nitrogen fertilizer to promote abundant blooms, as high nitrogen encourages foliage at the expense of flowers. A phosphate-rich feed is beneficial once the plant is established. Because this variety can grow up to four feet tall, staking is recommended to prevent the heavy stems from snapping. Removing spent flowers, known as deadheading, will encourage new blooms and extend the flowering season.
Overwintering Dahlia Tubers
In climates with freezing winters, you must overwinter tubers to preserve the plant. After the first hard frost causes the foliage to turn black, cut the stalks down to a few inches above the ground.
Carefully dig up the tuber clump, taking care not to damage the structures. Gently brush off excess soil and allow the tubers to cure for a few days in a sheltered, dry location away from direct sunlight.
Once cured, store the tubers for winter in a container filled with a medium like vermiculite, peat moss, or wood shavings. This helps maintain a consistent moisture level. Store the container in a cool, dark, and frost-free location, such as a basement or garage, until it’s time to replant.