3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
They really are gorgeous, aren't they.
If I am ever in Washington, I will have to check them out personally. I will wait though until after they are planted and/or dug and cleaned. I can't imagine all the work that is involved in the winter prep for all these beauties.
Bummer- I guess we're not on the jroute then, are we :) Couldn't get Ellie here in time to dig either- must be doing something wrong! BTW, thanks, Ellie for the heads-up on the new site. Walt's on the downhill side of things now though- only 1 & 1/2 gardens left to go & everything he's dug are all divided & in their winter bins. Tonight he's down in the cold room-- aka "the dungeon" --covering the last 2 day's worth with vermiculite.
...and if you ever are in WA or Vancouver, BC, Jroot, come & see the dahlias-- we're only 45 min south of Vancouver-- 15 minutes south of the border.
I'll defer to Walt then, since he's got a tad more to dig than me. Rain? Yes: 5" in 16 hours was our total, add another 1.5" or so between the night before and morning after. My arms hurt from hauling big sodden slumps of mud. "Shake the dirt off" after digging, my eye. Well worth the effort though.
Yeah, out of the 10 tubers I planted for the first time this year, Hulin's Carnival was first to bloom, and the toughest! It is the 2nd one to have bloomed after being staked back up after the storm, and has definitely earned its spot in the garden next year. It still has a few buds on it, but we got close to freezing a few nights ago, so it might be done. I'm going to dig and divide in a week or so - I want more than one of these next year!
Want to know more about Over Wintering Dahlias? A lot more? The article below points to some of the best internet sources for information on digging, dividing and storing dahlias.
Here is a link that might be useful: OVER WINTERING DAHLIAS
Mother may be used to doing it the old way with peat moss, which I find dries them out. If you are getting 80 % making it through, that is probably better than "mother's", but I am not mother so I'm therefore not sure what her success rate is.
The only thing I would do other than what you are doing is use a bulb dust ( fungicide ) on them. Then put the tubers in the bags ( loosely wrapped ) into a cardboard box, and place it in a cool place for the winter. Don't let it freeze.
JRoot,
Yes, mom always uses peat moss. LOL.
Thank you for your helpful advice I will use the same method as I did last year.
Put some bulb dust on them and put them in the basement in a dark spot. OH, and I use grocery bags as well to keep them separated.
Thanks Again
The reason you divide dahlia clumps each year- or at the least every other year is because the bigger the clump the less vigor the dahlia plant will have. A plant's mission in life is to reproduce & if it has a great big clump of tubers to live off of it won't try as hard to put out blooms. The stems will get weak & floppy & you'll get way less blooms. You are better off with a nice healthy tuber that puts out one nice fat sturdy stem with many laterals than you are with a spindly plant with a lot of stems that are all weak. Also- the size of the tuber doesn't really matter- a small one puts out just as nice a plant as a huge one does. Look at our photo albums- each one of these plants is grown from a single tuber- notice the vigor & the amount of branching from just one bigger-than-a-broomsitck stalk
Here is a link that might be useful: photos of dahlias
Forgot about these pictures. You can see Hilltop Stella growing in the trial garden in 2007 and on the bench in Chicago in the DS of GA August 2007 newsletter and the September 2007 newsletter, on the last page of each issue. Go to the DS of GA website and click on monthly newsletters and then select the month and year. They are not the best shots but you can see it. It looks better in person.
Buddy Dean will have some good ones coming along as I saw a couple at the NC show this year and they are lovely. Don't know what year seedling they are though.
Here is a link that might be useful: Dahlia Society of Georgia
Well that is too much. I wonder why it just doesn't come up on it's own. Thanks for taking the time to see him. The other shots of the bird bath flowers seemed to come right up for you all? The dahlias are much blacker this morning. So, I leave them like that for a week and cut them off at the bottom and leave the tubers in for another week and than dig?
Hey thanks guys! No time to divide and I really can't see what is where now. spring is much easier and doing it this way is great. 1 clump/tuber per bag?
What exactly is bulb dust? a fungcide? I stopped in my local garden center and asked - they didn't really know and then told me to just pack them in peat moss!
jroot - that's west side of the state, I think. I'm about 1/2 hour from the ocean on the other side. :-D According to the chart, I should be zone 6.... but considering what I keep freezing here.....it's just easier to say zone 5.
Linda
linda02120,
Your questions:
1 clump/tuber per bag? It all depends on the size of the clump. I often put several into one bag.
What exactly is bulb dust? I am surprised that they didn't know what bulb dust is. Try a hardware store. It is a type of fungicide, and it does indeed stop the rot. To me, it is invaluable.
Their comment: Pack them in peat moss! Well, I will tell you that I have had the LEAST success with peat moss. I find it dries the tubers out. I will never use it again. However, you may have better luck. For me, the method I use works best. Even Bernie (Saran wrap guy) liked it.
You can store them right in the pots- trim the stems to a couple of inches, turn the pots on their side so any water can drain & circulation is better, stack them up & store in a cool dark place. When you want to restart them you can bring them out & let them sprout. Then do cuttings again from them. This is the way most dahlias are grown in the UK- they don't even use what they call "chicken legs" & we call tubers. Or in spring if you want you can take them out of the pot, cut them up & replant.
These are "pot tubers" & are what you generally get from the big box stores in a plastic bag with most of them broken off & not usable.
I had one that had the crown gall this year. It was put into the trash.
A good camera with MACRO capabilities is a wonderful investment for good photos.
The one that made no new tubers was Myrtles Folly and it was puny all year, a new one tho. I dug in the hole but couldn't find any broken off. The brain tuber was huge and bright yellow, filled my hand and I have big hands. It didn't look like your picture. The one that didn't bloom right was supposed to be Sonic Bloom, but looked nothing like the picture.
Now I have another dilema, the tubers I dug from all my new plants are shriveling up. I have sprayed them with water, but they don't plump up. wondering what I did wrong? We had a hard freeze, and I waited a week to dig. The older plants, in the ground for 2 years are nice and plump. I'm baffeled. Any ideas??