My Dahlia Story: Hannah's Mount Glorious Dahlias
Hannah with her homegrown dahlias and other summer flowers
All image credits: Hannah Puechmarin
When I was thinking about someone who grows beautiful dahlias at their own home in South East Queensland, photographer extraordinaire Hannah Puechmarin immediately popped into my mind. Hannah lives in Mount Glorious just north of Brisbane in a gorgeous cottage surrounded by dahlias, zinnias and celosia - so dreamy! While Mount Glorious usually evokes images of huge ancient trees, incredible rainforest and lots of cool shade, Hannah has carved out a way (and enough sun) to enjoy both.
She shares her dahlia story which only began in the summer of 2020 (how did she get so good already?!) and some of her key inspiration in her ever expanding dahlia patch. Thanks Hannah! P.s. Check out Hannah’s photography work on her beautiful new website here.
My Dahlia Story: 10 Questions with Hannah Puechmarin
#1 Where do you live?
Mount Glorious, Queensland. It is a beautiful sub-tropical rainforest, one hour NW of Brisbane. I am lucky to be one of the few people on my street that get enough sun to be able to grow the garden I have.
#2 How long have you been growing dahlias? How did you get into growing your own?
I have been growing them since the summer of 2020. I had always wanted to grow them, and finally I had a garden of my own that I could experiment with after buying our home in the mountains. We moved here in March 2019. When I still lived with my folks in my early 20s, my dad sourced some dahlia tubers for us to grow and I loved them!
#3 How did you learn to grow them?
I probably googled a bit to begin with, and I am friends with Caitlyn from Norwood Roses who is obviously a dahlia guru, so I probably asked her for some tips as well! Generally the planting and growing has been straightforward but each year I am tweaking my methods to get it right.
#4 What’s your garden situation? How many dahlias do you usually plant?
I have a small patch of garden that surrounds our house at the front of our property that is fenced to (try to) keep the critters out. It gets the most sun, and I can enjoy the garden through the doors and windows of our house! The number of dahlias I have grown has varied from year to year. Mainly, each year I grow more and more. I would say that I have somewhere between 10-20 varieties.
I will be honest and say that my dahlia journey has been a rollercoaster! In 2022 I had to restock almost all my dahlia tubers due to the 2022 February rain event and further deluge in May that we experienced. I don’t keep count of how many I have, as I generally leave some in the ground and some I dig up, depending on where they are in the garden.
#5 Do you have any rituals around planting dahlias?
Not particularly, as I am still finding my way with them and have made a few mistakes along the way. I get tuber anxiety around this time of year (August). I am subscribed to all the dahlia growers across australia and often buy a few new varieties every year, and buying tubers from some of these growers can be pretty full on as they sell out so quickly! I really need to lock away a date in my calendar now to ensure I have time to plant them!
Rapid Fire!
#6 New variety you want to grow? Anemone dahlias.
#7 Dahlia patch or veggie patch? Dahlia patch! Flowers, always and always.
#8 Any dahlia calamities? Yes! from late plantings, poor storage to flooding, each year I learn something new about dahlia growing.
#9 Who is your dahlia inspo? Caitlyn Mason (Norwood Roses), Fiona Gunn (Palmer & Gunn) and Serenade Farm on Mount Tamborine
#10 What’s next for your garden in general? I am planning on extending a garden bed so I can fit more dahlias in!
The gorgeous dahlia patch that surrounds Hannah’s cottage
Looking for more information? Check out my take on Growing Dahlias In Brisbane and My Dahlia Story: Phoebe’s Dahlia Turnaround.