Featuring over thousands of flower heads and over 150 different varieties, Hever Castle & Gardens will be all things dahlia this September. Once affectionately known as grandma’s flower, the vibrant blooms have seen a resurgence in fashion over the last few years and have amassed a vast, growing fanbase on social media. With their bold colours, unique petal forms, and glossy foliage, dahlias will continue to catch the eye of garden enthusiasts and influencers alike.
Neil Miller, head gardener at Hever Castle and Gardens in Kent – and dahlia devotee, will by joined by garden writer Val Bourne to host Dahlia Days in the gardens on the 4th and 5th of September 2025. Miller will be sharing his knowledge and dahlia expertise and Bourne will be giving two talks.
The designated dahlia border at Hever Castle will be on show, which houses over 270 specimens and 150 varieties in a range of shapes and sizes, from the large dinner plate dahlias to, pom pom, cactus, semi cactus, anemone-flowered dahlias, collerette and waterlily.
“Dahlias are relatively easy to grow, as long as you store them well and feed them! We use chicken feed and growmore (to get them going) at Hever. They enjoy the nitrogen. You can also buy dahlia fertiliser, or you can use rose food which has a lot of potassium which is good for the dahlia flowers,” explains Miller.
