3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Fran, seeing as how you planted them when they were supposed to be in full flower I think it comes down to your accepting that this season is a lost one....and you should look forward to planting them next spring about the time you put out your annuals.....maybe a little sooner..when the soil has warmed up sufficiently.
As it is, you may as well leave them in the ground until after a hard frost....which will turn the foliage black.
Then you dig them up and store them in a cool, dry, dark environment. Bury them in peat moss or dry sand.
Let them dry though for a day or so in your garage so as to not store them in a too moisturized condition.
Moisture around the soft tissue of your dahlia tuber can initiate mildew or rot. Let them dry out a bit before you store.
Lauri, try instead going to dahlia.com....or Americandahliasociety.com.
You could have waited until after a hard frost---a frost that would have turned your foliage black....that would have been your cue to dig them up.
What you planted last spring is not what you had in the ground...you saw that...the clump evidently got huge.
In one of those websites there is a method by which dahlia clumps are taken apart...i.e. the clump's tubers are removed one by one and cocooned in plastic wrap, then stored in a cool environment.
The other method is to store the whole clump in a cool environment buried in peat moss or dry sand.
The key to their coming back is they must remain cool...temperatures between 35 & 50 fahrenheit.
They must not freeze....and they must not be given moisture or warmth that could initiate growth. Just cool..dark and dry.
This is also a good method of keeping over geraniums.
Linnea,
You don't have to wait for a hard frost now cause they are already cut down. Just make sure you dig before a hard freeze and store your tubers. I am digging mine now, just after a slight frost. I still have blossoms and the stems are still in good shape but can't wait any longer. Will be leaving for Florida and must get the tubers stored before I leave. I can't see any eyes now either. So, I cut large bundles of tubers in half for easy packing and the ones that have just 2 or 3 tubers I leave alone and pack as is. I hose the tubers off with water, let dry in the garage a day or two, cut those that need cut, shake on bulb storage powder (kills any bugs and helps prevent rot), pack in plastic grocery bags with a bit of vermiculite and the labels, then into boxes that are lined with newspapers. I keep them in the garage on an outside wall till May. Garage is heated but it's still very chilly in there. I'm not here to check on them but last year I only had one rot slightly. Come May the eyes are very visable. Voila!!
Have fun digging,
Sue
Sometimes the mother has rotted right away to nothing & sometimes she's there in all her glory. We keep the mother in case the babies rot or shrivel up. She's stored seperately in case SHE rots-- what a lot of rot is associated with dahlias! Also mothers will put out good shoots for cuttings- & usually earlier than the newer tubers will.
Dahlia Boy - FABULOUS pictures. I have been trying to obtain a Barbara Hardisty Kantor for two years now. I saw it at several shows last year and fell in love - lol. I did not see it this year at the East Coast shows. I gather that they do not eye up well and the few people who have a tuber are having a hard time keeping the tubers over the winter. Please please let me know if you have an extra.
For anyone who wants a similar dahlia to the "Barbara Hardisty Kantor" but in a smaller size try Dutch GArdens "Crazy Love". I have had it for about 5 years now and it is tough as nails. In fact, it almost killed my Othello rose by covering it up, and that is a 5' octopus of a rose! I would be glad to give anyone a tuber of it but only if they come by. I don't even mail packages to my kids! And we live on an island accessible only by ferry boat in Puget Sound. But I got this dahlia because my (then) teenage daughter picked it out of the catalog, and I have never been sorry. Right now I am picking about a dozen every 3 days from it. I would say that with minimal care they are about 5" across but easily go up to 6" or larger with feeding. It loves alfalfa pellets! IT was sharing Othello's alfalfa when it took off so Crazily last year!
I looked up Dahlia Imperilias for you & this site seems to have a lot of discussion on it. Don't know if they can answer your question but you're not getting any answers here so it's worth a try. Good luck!
Here is a link that might be useful: Dave's Garden
How much earlier in the summer?? Our cuttings that are planted in the garden around the 1st of June have lots of tubers.
Temps in the 40's will probably be OK to keep the plants alive but if it freezes, you'll lose them. If it doesn't freeze you can probably just leave them in the ground over the winter- with protection-- grow them as a tender perennial. They should still have plenty of time to grow lots of feeder roots & tubers before really cool weather hits- or does it hit in zone 10?
If it gets too cold outside, cut them back & put them in your "poor man's" greenhouse- which sounds a lot like a cold frame to me -- ours are put in a cold frame in the spring & do well.
We here in Central Ontario woke up to a dusting of snow on Fri Oct 13th... thought my dahlias would be reduced to the slime, but although they were coated in snow, then pelleted by freezing rain, they managed to remain perky and in bloom (they are right next to my brick house, so maybe radiant heat might be helping). I cut off all the blooms today, and with the inevitable killing frost just around the corner, I am wondering if I should cut them down in their glory, or let the frost take them?
I pinch back my dahlias, and I have several that are in the 7-8' range as well. My Insipic is tall and VERY bushy - I can't even stake it up anymore, although I have to admit, it has done fine on its own - it is about 7' high and about the same wide! Doesn't make a great cut flower, but looks great on the cul-de-sac - tons of blooms all summer long.
I had my best year ever with dahlias - maybe because I planted so many, maybe because I planted them all in a quart of manure. Keeping fingers crossed for tonight and tomorrow nite - don't want to hear that "F" word (frost). If we make it through, we should have at least a week more which I need. Have way too many buds and some on plants that have yet to bloom!
We harvest seed pods when they turn straw color and are just starting to dry out. The key is in how ripe the seeds are: carefully open the pod while it is still on the plant and examine the seeds. If they are black, they are ripe. If they are dark brown they may be ripe. If they are green, they are definitely not ripe.
We shuck the seeds within a day of harvest as we have noticed that many pods will rot if you try to dry them out in the house. There may be a slight loss of germination percentage but rotten seeds never sprout.
I have my dahlia in a container and it was blooming when I got it home from the nursery but ever since then it had not bloomed again. Keeps growing taller but no blooms. I am thinking of digging it up and storing it for the winter. Any advice when I should do this? I love in Chicago.
Can you plant whatever it is over the top- if it has shallow roots? I do this every year w/ my tulips & daffs- plant the Impatiens & begonias on top of them for the summer.
50* is too warm for storage out of the ground- they'll either start sprouting or shrivel up to hard sticks & or both- sprout first & then shrivel up.
When more than one stalk comes up in the spring, cut off all but one nice strong one. Do you dig & divide? When dahlias are left in the ground from year to year you usually get many stalks & not much bloom-- when they are divided & one tuber is planted they are much more apt to get one nice strong stalk that you can stop & then it will branch out & give you more blooms.
I always dig and divide in the spring and several could have been clumps with multiple shoots. However a number were from cuttings. The leader stalk kind of withered and was later replaced with a number of stalks that ran horizontal for 1-1/2 feet then turned up. I tie then up to the stake but it is difficult with the right angle curve in each stalk.