3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Was the plant labeled dahlia. Dahlias grow in a sort of bush style and not a vine. If it is a dahlia, let it dry out, and there should be tubers in the soil. You can store the tubers in a cool place like a basement, just keep them from freezing. In spring, they can be taken out, watered and given light, and then fertilized and that is it.
Darlene
Ditto from this cut flower grower. At that time the tubers are just being started. THe soonest I ever have dahlias is maybe the last day of June for one started in a pot in March and an early bloomer. August is the time when they are most prevalent. MIght be easier to move the wedding date, LOL.
There you go, wedding saved! I would love to hear if that works out for you, Wareaglexs. I must be doing something wrong: I fret about the condition of delicate dahlia petals driving them loosely packed, upright in buckets for 10-25 miles. A quick online search doesn't turn up very many vendors who ship them. Swan Island does, and I'd be tempted to order some myself just to see how they arrive. Our florist drives to Canada to bring them by van upright in buckets, or gets them locally, fresh cut.
Please post and let us know how your dahlia search turns out.
Glad to hear that the Saran method worked for you Mingus Alex. It is a space saver for sure.
I read another interesting approach to blocking rain from rotting tuber clumps once the stalks are cut: squirt in some expandable foam that they use to fill gaps in housing construction around doors and window frames. Doesn't hurt the plants, fills the available space and prevents water from entering.
I am digging the clumps that survived our astronomical rainfall the past few days: they had no such protection, and only two have seemed bothered or slightly rotted. Those two were severe leaners who fell over several times during the growing season, and their stalks may have been weakened or cracked somehow. The clumps fell apart upon digging, which is odd here.
Lovely, pitimpinai. Did you dig the tubers and grow them again the next year? I left some in the ground and they didn't come back like my other dahlias, so they must be less hardy. I'm thinking of starting some from seed, but I don't know if they will bloom much the first year from seed.
Planting sites. lol.
Yes, I dug up the tubers. I did not save any seeds, because I planted them in a friend's yard and he deadheaded them all before I remembered to tell him not to.
This red one had a lot of blooms. I sowed the seeds this spring. Very easy to germinate. They came in different colors, though.
Hi Judy,
we have also the Tsuki Yori No Isha (I think that is the same dahlia) on our HP - Dahlien Bilder - Galerie betreten. But it is "white". But may be that Tsuki Yori (without no Isha) is another dahlia. Here in Germany it is named Tsuki Yori No Isha (????).
rgds Toennchen
Sharon, it is more like cutting off the bulk of a fat tuber so it is tempted to send out eye growth rather than sit and diddle around living off the tuber's stored energy before getting on with life. A couple of my Smokey tubers were over a pound I bet; huge 3 inch diameters. Just leave the eye/stem end and 1/3- 1/2 of the tuber bulk. Spray the cut, if you like, with Lysol or dip in a bleach soak. Let it dry and scab over, then plant as usual.
Smokey is indeed a tall monster, over 6 ft here too; always in the back row. I hope you get to see your other buds!
I had a Papageno but it always blew in the middle. It went to the disguard pile.My Pat Feary grew over 7 ft this year. It must have had hundreds of blooms over the season. My Aztec Gold was late blooming this year. You must order from Ferncliff too.
Regular dahlias overwinter OK for me, but one year I bought some Bishop's Children ones. They grew and bloomed well but none made it through the winter. I get the impression from the seed catalog that the dwarf varieties they sell seed for are less hardy? It might survive better dug and put in a pot or kept overwinter by one of the methods on this forum.
ah.., the posting that lives on forever. (2005)
Yup, 'Who Dun it" has made a buncha good tubers for me also. And every single cutting that I took in the Spring produced a decent plant. Now that I've said it out loud, the dang things will probably rot during storage. It's true, it's true. That's what happened with 'Gay Princess' this past Winter. Well, almost true. I shared quite a few with other gardeners, theirs survived and mine didn't.
Oh my gosh. Why do people even LIVE in Syracuse?
tee hee! I have driven through your fine state and the Finger Lakes region looked particularly appealing. We didn't have time for a sidetrip at that time. I would like to revisit the NE US but not in the winter months. I didn't realize just how snowy Syracuse could be. Buffalo gets all the news coverage it seems. May you have a non-record breaking winter this time around!
So you had a 6 ft pale dahlia straggler eh? I've left one or two behind myself and am always surprised how they strive to grow despite being treated like garbage in a dark corner or box somewhere with no water, no sun. Amazing little things.
The pale stragglers have hit enmass this year it seems. Just last week Walt brought in a crate that had been at the bottom of the pile out in the storage shed. It had about a dozen Dusty Daydream tubers in it-- all with a foot or so of pale, twisty growth & some white leaves on them. Should have put them out to scare the kiddies at Hallowe'en!
I am in one 8B and I never store my dahlias. I may loose one or two to mysterious causes like voles, but they do just fine in the ground. THe only time I tried storing them I lost many of them. I will pile on some mulch and be sure each clump is buried under several inches of it and that is all the care they get until spring time. I think they do better after atleast 2 years in the ground.
I have been leaving mine in the ground. One year I dug one in the fall and forgot it in a pot under my deck, with no soil or covering, and it survived the winter. I planted it in a pot in spring so it got some warmer conditions before planting in the garden. It bloomed much earlier than ones left in the ground. I dug it in the fall and it made an enormous bushel of tubers. Since that time I have left it in the ground and it blooms earlier than the other dahlias planted as a single tuber, and has a lot of blooms. I haven't divided it for several years.
Sometimes because of the cold soil and late start dahlias left in the ground don't bloom at all. I suppose it depends on location and on that particular dahlia. I'm actually considering digging some this fall to try starting them in a pot next spring and get a jump on blooming.
Welcome Dave, from a former Minnesotan. Cold zone you are in there and I take my hat off to you for even trying to find a place to store a dahlia tuber over winter.
There are some great fertile soil areas in that state and I hope you're in one of them with plenty of room to plant! Check the gallery at intervals because I, for one, will be posting photos that haven't made it that far yet all winter long. Wish others would do the same.
The first one I tried was a deep dark red which had beautiful blooms. That one wasn't a storage problem I just didn't remember to dig up the tuber till around Dec. If you've lived in MN you know that's a problem as the ground is a "little" frozen by then. Which reminds me, I better bring in the peruvian daffs today.
I plan on doubling the garden size next spring to give my plants the room they need. I've surpassed the 18" (probably the 12" too) rule by a little bit. The garden soil is made up of clay, manure (thanks to the farmers nearby), and composting wood chips used for mulch.
Poochella, your pics were some of the ones I was admiring. The Camano Grace, Stellyvone, Prince Valiant, Kasagi, Painted Lady, Seattle....ok I'm hooked.
Poochella is thinking dividing and storing is a stupid thing to do right about now! It's freezing cold, wet, dirty work! Every gardener has to decide what works best for them. Store whole clumps, leave in the ground, store partial clumps, divide into singles and store in whatever method you choose.
Linnea, you sound like my daughter with the course load ganging up on her at school! Best of luck with those important demands, first of all.
If I've run into shrivelling, I mist the clumps or tubers on newspaper or towels, cover with more damp towels or newspapers just to keep them in a moist environment. Leave them overnight or for a couple days but keep the moisture level high. It may or may not help. I think people have actually soaked their tubers in buckets to try to rehydrate them, myself included. I can't say that it helped, but it didn't hurt anything. If that doesn't help, I'd just pick out the least rubbery ones and store them as you choose, hoping for the best.
I know how slow I am and my limit for clumps maxes out at about 15 per day. This year, perhaps more because tubers are sparse on more clumps making it go faster! But that's all I dig per day because I learned I wouldn't get around to them in time to avoid the shrivelling problem. However, I've dealt with it with tubers waiting to be wrapped that had to wait overnight and began to go rubbery, so you are not alone.
Plantlady I am a new gardener and your picture is absolutely a "kodak moment" and such an inspiration to me of the little glimpse I can see of your awesome garden. A little glimpse of heaven I would say!!
Donna
As the winter goes on & the weather's depressing I'll try to get a few more pictures of our garden posted but right now it doesn't feel like anything to do with a glimpse of heaven- Yesterday I was on my 9th day of fall cleanup & carted 35 large wheelbarrow loads of trimmings, fir needles & leaves to the compost pile & I've still got 2 gardens to go-- oh, & all that useless lawn to rake up! & we don't even have many trees that drop leaves on us- just fir & cedar- where did all the leaves come from???
The husband is about 1/2 of the way through digging, dividing & storing the dahlias- 3,000 plants down & something over 3,000 to go!