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 et your imagination run wild to create a fabulous flowering design in a container garden. Make sure your plants relate well to each other and suit the size and style of the container.
 For this example we will use a 20" container (figure a), recyclable water or soda bottles, one part garden soil, one part potting soil, one half part dehydrated manure, one half part vermiculite, two teaspoons Osmocote fertilizer (14-14-14), one teaspoon Soil Moist Water Storing Hydrogel Granules, and container plants.
Prepare the container by creating three drainage holes about six inches apart on the bottom with a power drill (figure b). Place six to eight plastic bottles in the container. Fill with soil mixture up to four inches from the rim.
Dahlia tubers are planted in a heated greenhouse in February for market in May. The dahlia which is the focal point in the container is planted near the center of the container. Offset the dahlia with two complimentary upright plants such as salvia, and snapdragons.
Look for filler flowers such as Persian Shield, Angelonia, or Coleus that coordinate well with the dahlia and the upright plants. Plant these two to three inches to the side of the center group.
Trailing plants such as Verbena Royal Purple, and Trailing Wave Petunia, should be planted at equal points around the edge of the container.
Work in a low release fertilizer, and water the container well.
Be certain to keep track of costs associated with all materials used in the development of the container garden. Using these costs and multiplying them by 1.43 is a general rule of thumb for pricing at the retail level.
 An attractive market display can be made using wooden crates to elevate the containers off the ground. Depending on market stall size, two levels can usually be achieved.(figure c)
Include an instruction card printed with maintenance requirements such as this: The container garden will need at least six hours of sun each day. The plants will need to be watered once daily; however, twice daily watering will be necessary during the heat of the summer. Be certain to protect the plants from inclement weather. Fertilize with a liquid 20-20-20 fertilizer every two weeks.
It will be helpful to keep a log with customer name and plant details which can easily be referred to if the customer requests an identical container the following season.
Suggestions for container grown dahlias:
For a dramatic effect with large blooms (8-10" diameter):
    
For medium size blooms (6-8"):
    
   
For smaller size blooms (4-6"):
     
Some of the information contained in this article was derived from the wonderfully informative DVD, "Growing Dahlias in Containers" by Steve Nowatarski. For more information, please visit his website at ContainerDahlias.com
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