Bishop of Leicester Dahlia Tubers

Bishop of Leicester: Paeony Dahlia Tubers

Bishop of Leicester is one of a series of modern versions of Bishop of Llandaff, and its faint-pink-candy-stripe over translucent white flowers pop out of the fairly dark green foliage.
Browse our other Decorative Dahlias, or our full Dahlia range.

Features

• Colour: Pale pink stripes over white
• Foliage: Mid green
• Flower size: 10 to 15cm
• Type: Paeony dahlia
• Cutting: Yes
• Height/spread: 90cm x 90cm
• Flowering: July to November
• Outdoor Planting Months: March to July

Growing Bishop of Leicester Dahlias

All dahlias do best in deep rich soil with good drainage in a sunny spot. If it is windy they will need staking. They are greedy, thirsty plants so will need watering in dry spells, and they will always flower that little bit better if there is a bit of soluble food in the watering can once every couple of weeks.

Unlike most dahlias, he is unlikely to need staking, unless you live in a windy spot.

It is generally more convenient to put support stakes in at planting time, rather than leaving it until there is foliage in the way.

Planting Companions for Bishop of Leicester 

At 90cm tall, he is stately but not tricky or top heavy, so it lends itself well to growing either in pots on a sunny patio (plant it with some bronzed grasses for a fabulous effect) or to planting in the mid section of beds and borders. 

If you ignore seed, Dahlias can be planted at three stages: as tubers, rooted cuttings and pot-grown plants.

Tubers can be planted at any time from March onwards. The hole should be at least double the diameter of the tuber laid out on the ground. Incorporate about 25% well rotted compost and if drainage is in any way doubtful then add plenty of horticultural grit as well. Plant one tuber per hole, leaving 60-80 cms between plants (depending on final size) and make sure the tuber is covered with 10-12 cms (4-5") of soil. This is important as it will insulate the tuber against frosts in March-May as they will take a couple of months to show.

Rooted cuttings, which are available from early April onwards, will need to be potted up and kept in a sunny and frost free place until they are ready to be planted out in mid May. Their treatment then is the same as for tubers except they are planted level with rather than 10 cms below the surrounding soil level.

Pot grown plants are not delivered until June, and are then planted out immediately in the same way as an established rooted cutting.

The more you deadhead, the more flowers you'll get.

Did You Know?

Llandaff, the original Bishop in the series, was bred by Cardiff nurseryman Fred Treseder in 1927. Leicester, York and Auckland were bred by Van der Linden in Holland in the early 2000's.