LONDONDERRY, Vt. – The Green Mountain Gardeners announce their March program, “I Love Dahlias,” presented by Michele Dauphinais, of the Rutland Garden Club. Open to the public, this lively and informative hour-long talk will be held on March 3, at 11 a.m., at the Londonderry Volunteer Rescue Squad building, 6068 Vermont Route 100, and will be followed by a light lunch. The program is free, but registration is required by emailing lindasaarnijoki@gmail.com.
With thousands of varieties, dahlias are popular garden flowers that provide both brilliant color to the garden landscape, and long-lived cut flowers for the summer table. Due to freezing winter temperatures in Vermont, dahlia tubers must be dug up and replanted each year, but the labor of cultivating them is rewarded by spectacular blooms in a variety of sizes, from “dinner plate” dahlias to mini pompoms, and in many colors, from deepest reds through the spectrum to brilliant whites, both pure and variegated. Our speaker will talk about how to plant tubers in the ground or in pots, nurture them through the growing season, and store them over the cold months – soup to nuts about dahlias.
Dauphinais has given lively and entertaining talks about her passion for dahlias to garden clubs and other organizations throughout central Vermont and eastern New York. This will be a fun opportunity to learn more about this resilient garden mainstay.
The Green Mountain Gardeners foster horticulture, beautification, and conservation in the Mountain Towns of Landgrove, Londonderry, Peru, and Weston. In addition, the group also serves their communities through beautification and service projects. Visit their website, www.greenmountaingardeners.net, to learn more, or to join the organization.