Dahlia 'Firepot'

Firepot is a semi-decorative dahlia with blooms held in a form that may remind you of waterlilies. The central cluster tends to be crimson, while the layers of outer petals shade from yellow to deep orange. They are 3 to 4 inches wide, which would be considered huge for most plants but is actually on the small side for dahlias! And that's good, because there are so many -- Firepot is a cut-and-come-again variety, setting new buds as soon as you deadhead the spent flowers -- that you'll soon have a plant completely covered in color!

The blooms begin in midsummer, quite early for a dahlia, and continue right up to frost. The plant is petite, reaching 24 inches high and perhaps 15 to 18 inches wide. Good branching means even more blooms, and the smaller size makes Firepot an excellent choice for containers of all kinds. (Wouldn't it be fun to plant Firepot in a fire pit?! You could create your own "eternal flame" . . . at least for summer and fall!) This is a super free-flowering variety, determined to keep itself in color for 4 months or more.

Firepot is one of the best Dahlias for containers. Many varieties are simply too large for most flowerpots, and many need supports to hold their heavy blooms upright. Firepot suffers from none of these issues. Make it the centerpiece of a big tub planting, or give it its own 10- to 12-inch pot. You'll be delighted by the show it puts on!

Dahlia is a sun-lover, happiest in rich, well-drained, moist soil. It is hardy only through zone 8 in the north, so you may want to dig it up at season's end and store it indoors to replant in spring. It forms a tuber, and is easy to tuck away in a shoebox filled with clean kitty litter or vermiculite.

Like most Dahlias, Firepot needs full sun (to afternoon shade in hot climates) and benefits from very fertile soil -- we recommend a nitrogen-rich liquid fertilizer once a week throughout June. Keep Firepot well-fed and watered, give it plenty of sun, and it will reward you with an abundance of early color that keeps coming 'til frost! Zones 8-10.

• Butterflies like a lot of sunlight, so locate your garden in a sunny area.
• If you live in a windy location, plant your butterfly-attracting plants near a building, fence, or hedge to protect them.
• Plant a variety of nectar-rich plants, as well as shrubs and evergreens for shelter.
• Since many butterflies and native flowering plants have co-evolved, try to put in some that are native to your area. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Center provides lists of plants native to states and regions.
• Certain colors are particularly attracting to butterflies – red, yellow, pink, purple, or orange blooms that are clustered or flat-topped, with a short flower tubes are especially attractive to adult butterflies.
• Avoid using pesticides, especially around nectar-producing plants.
• Provide a shallow source of water – try a birdbath with pebbles lining the bowl.
• Place a rock in a sunny spot for butterfly basking and resting.
• Create a "puddling area" by digging a shallow hole filled with compost or manure where rainwater will collect and release essential salts and minerals.
• If you want butterflies to breed in your garden, put in some caterpillar food plants, such as parsley, milkweeds, asters, thistles, violets, clover, grasses, and Queen Anne’s Lace.
• Since butterflies need nectar throughout the entire adult phase of their lives, try to create a design that will allow for a continuous bloom – when one stops blooming, another starts.

As the deer population has boomed and food has become scarcer, they have become more aggressive. In some areas deer will strip your garden bare, leaving nothing green or flowery behind. While there is no such thing as a completely deer-proof garden, there are some effective things you can do to protect your garden from these hungry animals.

Use physical barriers

Plant Deer-resistant Varieties

Having a dog In the Family

Shop All Deer-resistant Plants

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Overwintering Cannas, Dahlias, Caladiums, Tuberous Begonias, and Elephant Ears

If you live in colder part of the country, many of the lush, tropical beauties we offer will be tender in your zone, unable to survive the winter. Often gardeners will simply grow these beautiful plants as annuals, just enjoying them for one season. But the serious plant enthusiast rises to the challenge and goes the extra mile to let these plants reach their full perennial potential. If you make the effort to overwinter your tender plants, you can enjoy an increasingly beautiful display every season, and your garden will be all the more elite for the inclusion of these exotic perennials.

1. Dig

Wait until the bloom show has ended and the foliage has started to die off, towards the end of fall. Your plants will tell you when it is time by dying back and going into dormancy. Once your plants are done for the season, take a pair of clean pruning shears and cut back the foliage to just above the ground (about 6 inches, depending on the plant's height). This will give the plant a clear signal that the season is over and it is time to go into dormancy, if it hasn't already. It is important to use a clean pair of shears to avoid introducing rot—rot is your biggest enemy throughout this process, so clean your shears with alcohol to be extra careful.

Now you are ready to dig up your tuber. Move about a foot away from the crown and dig down deep to get underneath of it. Be careful not to pierce the tubers, because again that can promote rot. Circle the plant, loosening up the soil, and then gently lift it out of the ground. Rinse off any remaining soil until you can see all the tubers hanging from the stalks. Cut off any tubers that look rotten, to keep the rot from spreading.

2. Divide

Next it is time to divide up the plant. This will help it grow healthier next year, and it means that you get more specimens to grace your garden!

First identify the eyes—these can vary from species to species, but they look similar to the eyes of a potato, and this is where new growth will come from next year. Cut up the plant into segments, trying to leave the individual tubers as intact as possible, and make sure that each division has at least one eye.

3. Dry

Now set the tubers out to dry. Leave them out at least 3 days until they are thoroughly dry. Placing them on cardboard can help. Getting the tubers dry will prevent them from rotting.

Then place your box in a dark, cool place (50 degrees at most, 35 degrees at the least) over winter. A cellar, garage, basement, or even dark closet might work—if all else fails, set a small refrigerator to 45 degrees and store your overwinter plants there. Don’t forget to label your box so you know what varieties are in it! Check in on your tubers just a few times throughout the winter to make sure they are not rotting or getting too shriveled up. A little bit of shriveling is normal, but if they seem very dry, give them a spritz of water. Remember that the tuber stops "drinking" during dormancy, so they just need a small amount of water to keep them from completely drying out. And if you see signs of rot, throw those tubers out.

That is all there is to it! Next spring you should (fingers crossed) have more healthy plants than ever before, ready to provide you another long season of beauty! You can also get the jump on the season by starting your plants indoors about a month early. Start with a few hours of indirect sunlight and let them adjust slowly to light again before you plant them out.