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Grow a Spectacular Garden in Pots
Direct planting Dahlias
with ARTHUR PARKINSON — Horticulturist, writer and container gardening expert.
Lesson 37 of 51
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In this lesson Arthur shows how the tubers potted up in March are doing, and demonstrates another option of waiting until after the frost to direct plant your dahlias.
From the Lesson Workbook
Early Summer
Direct Planting Dahlias
If you wait until you're confident the last frost has passed, you can direct plant your dahlia tubers into the pot you want them to stay in. This will mean that they are someway behind the dahlias planted earlier and kept undercover, but it means less work in terms of repotting and planting out your dahlias.
Besides the frost, slugs are the main threat to your newly shooting dahlias. Keep them off the floor if possible and use something to deter the slugs like wool pellets or a generous coating of vaseline around the rim of your pot.
The dahlias are planted in fresh compost and a cap full of liquid seaweed feed mixed with water in a watering can once a week once the foliage has really started to fill out.
Sunflowers and Zinnias
Other seeds to delay sowing so that they can go outside as soon as they've sprouted are sunflowers and zinnias.
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Absolutely love Create Academy! The instructors are extremely informative, and it is beautifully filmed. Create Academy is great value for money and plan on renewing my subscription yearly because there are ...
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Magic in small spaces
Butter's creativity is stunning! Her ability to incorporate brilliance in small gardens is magical!
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May 30, 2026
Your Instructor
Arthur Parkinson
Horticulturist, writer and container gardening expert.
Named one of the most influential young UK gardeners by Architectural Digest, Arthur Parkinson is a gardener, florist and author with a penchant for growing flamboyant blooms and raising chickens. After studying horticulture at the Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew, Arthur went to work for plantswoman Sarah Raven at her farm in East Sussex to pursue his passion for growing cut flowers. He later became head gardener for the potter Emma Bridgewater, which inspired his first book, The Pottery Gardener. Arthur also co-presents the popular gardening podcast 'Grow, cook, eat, arrange' with Sarah Raven and regularly appears on BBC's 'Gardeners' World'.
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