By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

If the photos in Wednesday's post didn't convince you to plant some dahlias, maybe these images from Armstrong Garden Centers will.

Dahlia tubers need to be planted deeper than the general rule for bulbs — twice as deep as their size.  The Sunset Western Garden Book suggests covering dahlias with three inches of soil, but in warm areas like Southern California experienced gardeners often plant them much deeper. 

Gary Jones, director of marketing at Armstrong, for instance, plants his dahlias 5 to 7 inches deep.  "Dahlias are like clematis," he says.  "They like their heads in the sun but their roots cool."   Mulching — or just keeping most of the soil covered with plant material, which is what happens in Jones' garden — also helps.

Forget dinnerplate dahlias, he also suggests. "They're ungainly." Dahlias in the two- to three-foot range are his favorites.  They're tall enough to have some presence and stems long enough to cut, but they're still compact enough not to need staking.

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