{"id":934,"date":"2023-05-31T18:47:04","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T22:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakeshoredahlias.com\/?p=934"},"modified":"2023-11-06T23:17:10","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T04:17:10","slug":"may-newsletter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakeshoredahlias.com\/may-newsletter\/","title":{"rendered":"May Newsletter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
There is a lot of activity happening in our dahlia gardens! Planting tubers, setting up support stakes, you name it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We also need to keep informed about the weather for the week. I have the local weather app on my phone. It informs me of high and low temperatures for the week and sends me an alert for frost advisories and warnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, this week in West Michigan has been very hot with temps between 85f and 90f degrees. It is not surprising that dahlias do not like extremely hot temperatures. You may ask, what can we do about it? Well, you can easily set up a “shade tarp” using an inexpensive plastic tarp from the paint department of the local hardware store. I clip the rolled up tarp to tomato cages using wooden clothes pins (the spring type). Air can freely circulate above and around the plants, but new, fragile sprouts are protected from leaf scorch by using the tarp above them. The best thing is you can reuse the plastic tarp as a rain tarp if needed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are a couple photos of the “shade tarps” I have set up! If you go on Amazon, you can also purchase other shade tarps for gardens in various sizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n