Hi pdshop

It sounds like we like the same style of garden. Zinnias, Hollyhocks and Dahlias. Sounds like a cottage garden. What else have you got growing in there? I love a good cottage garden. Do you grow from seed? I'm in Chelmsford...not too far off. I'm hoping to get my Dahlia tubers in mid April. I bought a soil thermometer so that the instant the soil reaches 60 degrees Ill be out there planting! I started my Zinnia the other day. They came up really quickly and now the trick is to get them to a strong and healthy place, not something Im terribly good at, and maybe they will be planted before the end of April. Cross my fingers and...
Anyways
Keep in touch :)
Dale

Dear Russ
Sounds like a handful to me. I'm anxious enough with starting my 12 Dahlia tubers and my 36 Zinnias. Do you ever buy/get anything new? Do you start from seed.
As far as Dahlias go...i have a question. There seems to be a difference of opinion regarding fertilization for them. The Swan Island site says 1/2 nitrogen to phosphorous and potash (?). Other folks say equal amounts. One member suggests using tomato fertilizer spikes. The spikes, as far as convenience goes, would be easiest for me. Also, I have to keep my Zinnia happy as well. What do you think?
Take Care!
Dale

Dale,

I only started Dahlias last year with 24 varieties, and this year I bought 28 new varieties. A couple of last years' didn't sprout, so I'm growing a total of 50 varieties this year.

I've never started from seed. Last year they were all from tubers. This year I've taken/taking cuttings for everything. The plan is to plant the cuttings in the formal Dahlia gardens, and plant the tubers in my clover field.

As far as fertilizer, I can't help there. I put bonemeal into the holes with the tubers last year and that was it (apart from once watering with Miracle Grow liquid.) This year I've used Miracle Grow Seed Starter mixed with peat for the tuber beds inside, and a mix of Seed Starter and Moisture Control Miracle Grow for the cuttings when they go into 4" pots. Can't really say how well this is working yet...

I haven't lost a cutting yet, but there are certainly some that look like they may die. I think this is more my fault than anything else, when watering sometimes the cutting comes out of the hole in the soil and ends up not sitting in soil.

That said, my beds are fairly new, so they've been freshly infused with good top soil and peat.

All I have read says you should treat them like you would treat vegetables??

I've never been much of a gardener before Dahlias...;-]

Cheers,
Russ

Is it too late to join the dahlia buddy club?? I just lost all 50 or so tubers in storage. This winter, my garage was too cold and the basement was too warm. I still love those dahlias enough to not give up yet. I have about 30 tubers and 8 cuttings coming this spring. Would love to share notes with others this season and be very thankful for any tips or insight....

Tracy

Welcome Tracy!

I don't think Dale's put any limits here...;-]

Shame about your tubers. FWIW, I picked up a used fridge whose freezer didn't work for ~$50 and it worked great to store my tubers over winter...if only I'd done a better job preparing them.

I'll be really interested in hearing about your cuttings to compare them to the ones I've made myself.

Cheers,
Russ

OK Russ and Tracy ...Pardon my internet naivety but what does FWIW mean. Hi Tracy...of course you can join. Right now it seems as if everyone, except for Susan in California, is just waiting to get into their gardens! I, also, am sorry about your lost tubers though 30 does not seem, to a beginner like me, a terrible number to have. I, of course, have only 12 so who am I to say? Right now Im waiting on my tubers. I bought them from Swan Island Dahlia. I'd love to start them indoors but I dont have enough light to sustain the once theyve sprouted. Thus, as sad as it is, I will have to start them in late April or early May and wait forever until, they come up, get their feet wet and bloom. I am kinda sad but what the heck...they ARE Dahlias and worth the wait. I've started some Zinnias. Hopefully I can get them up and running a little sooner. Tell me Tracy, are you a big gardener? Where are you? Have you had a lot of Dahlia experience?
Russ...when did you say you'll be able to get into your gardens...May? How tall are your sprouted Dahlia tubers? What about your cuttings? When do you take cuttings? At the end of the season?
Curiously,
Dale

FWIW = For what its worth.

For acronyms I don't recognize, I like the link I've attached to this message, http://www.acronymfinder.com/

Why do you say you won't have enough light Dale? For 12 tubers, you should be able to get away with a grow lamp on a pole, some sort of standing lamp, nothing too special. Just keep the light on them 14 hours a day and they should do fine.

I will probably be able to finish the stone work of my Dahlia beds in late April, it really depends on how quickly all this snow melts. Once the stone work is done I can spread out the new top soil I got last year and till a bit. Since they're all new beds, it won't take much. Dahlias won't be going in until the end of May, however, to be sure we're past all chances of frost. I remember a few years ago it was 0 F on May 24th...so.

I have been cutting every sprout off of my tubers when the sprout gets ~3-4" tall. When the 3rd set of leaves are opened.

A couple of my cutings are getting quite large, particularly a Purple Taiheijo. I want them to be concentrating on roots right now, not green growth. Probably the beginning of May I will start varying the light, some days 8 hours, others 12, etc...as I believe this is supposed to stimulate the leaves.

You take cuttings primarily in spring, cutting the sprouts from the tubers as they start. Each time you take a cutting, you'll likely end up with 4 more sprouts where the one was. I'm told that eventually the new sprouts start to get weak, skinny, and noticably different...that's when you stop. Since all of the sprouts make full Dahlias this year (with tubers) there's no need to keep/plant the tuber out if the cuttings do well. That's my goal.

Further, you plant the cuttings in 4" pots and then grow them in those pots all season, so come the fall when you have to lift your tubers you're lifting this 4" pot instead. This should help prevent tubers/necks from getting broken when they're lifted. The tubers grow smaller, in a tighter clump, and instead of putting away 10-20 from a clump, you simply put away the one 4" clump. Next year I'm expecting tons of sprouts from the clump without any dividing or hassle.

Cheers,
Russ

Russ,

I ordered tubers and cuttings for some of the same variety of dahlias. This will be my year of experimentation. I want to see which ones will give me blooms sooner. It's also my first year trying out cuttings so I'm kind of worried about the whole "hardening off to the sun" process. BTW, are your lights you're using this year full spectrum T5 CFL's? And how far above the cuttings are the lights positioned? Have you had to adjust the humidity at all?

Dale,
I'm in St. Paul, Minnesota and this is my 3rd year growing dahlias. I'm not an experienced gardener but I've learned alot from all these forums and I love growing plants. Some of the dahlia experts on here, like Poochella, Jroot and Dahliaboy have been very very helpful. I'm getting some tubers around mid april and plan to start them indoors. I'm worried about the light thing too. However, I think I'll try putting them in a south window and supplement with CFL's to see how that goes. I think if you at least get them to produce some eyes, that will speed up the process. I have low light orchids and have begonias I dug up last fall to start indoors and now they're blooming. So the lighting thing can be manipulated somewhat. Since dahlias need alot of light, maybe starting them in a south window may help if you don't have artificial lighting.

Hi Guys, OK, I dont have a south facing window but I do have a grow light set up in the basement. It's about 4'-5' wide and maybe 6"-8" deep. It's hung fairly high so if I put Dahlia pots I could put 4 in a row and have maybe 2 rows. Do you think that if I rotate the pots in and out of the direct lights it would be enough? Ive heard that starting Dahlias without enough light will make them leggy. How big are the tubers anyway? Can I start them in a 4" pot? If I have a larger pot could I plant 2 tubers in one pot thus helping with the light (or lack of) situation? linht, what does it mean when you say "produce some eyes"? I thought the tubers come with eyes and you plant them with the eyes on top. Bare with me:) Im totally new to this. Do you also start from seed?
Hey Russ, when is the Farmers Market? Are you ready?

Dale

Hi Dale,

I've never planted any from seeds just because I was told the ones I grow most likely will not be true to seed. If you end up getting visible eyes on all your tubers then you're lucky :) Not all of my tubers last year had visible eyes. I put them in the ground around the first week of May. The ones with eyes sprouted pretty quickly but the eyeless tubers didn't really do much until the ground warmed up enough. As far as pot and tuber sizes, check out this post from Jroot (link at bottom). I think it might give you some ideas.

Tracy

Dale,

Since your plan is to just get them off to an early start and plant the tubers in the ground, what I would do is get a tub (like a Rubbermaid storage box around 2'x4' that's 6" deep, the kind you would put under a bed) and then fill it with some potting mix (say, 3" or so). Add some water to get the soil moist, but not soaking. Then just lay the tubers on their side in it, alternating them so its crown end, root end, crown end, etc... If you can see the eye on the tuber, or if it has a shoot, then make sure that's facing up. Don't bury them in the soil; just gently push them in so you cover half their thickness.

Put that whole thing under the lights; say as close as 12" or so between the top of the tub and the bottom of the lights.

Make sure the temperature stays above 60F and every day spritz them with some water to keep them moist, but not soaked.

See, you don't want too many roots growing, so you don't put them too deep in the soil. They'll sprout just fine, and start to grow, and they'll be easy to remove from the tub to plant into the ground. If roots do grow, you should be able to free them from the soil without them breaking too much when you finally lift the tubers out to put into the ground.

I wouldnt start tubers in 4" pots, unless theyre very small (say, no bigger than a ping-pong ball.) You put cuttings into 4" pots and by the end of the year the tubers will have grown in the constrained environment just fine.

I wouldnt put 2 tubers into one pot if youre planning on letting then grow in the pot all season. This could make it difficult to figure out which is which at the end of the year, the tubers could grow all intertwined.

The Farmers Market starts some time in May, not sure yet. Im not ready, I still have some pictures to print up and labels and such. Lots of time still.

Cheers,
Russ

Thanks Russ

I'd like to go with the Rubbermaid idea. Again,though, I will have light issues. At 12" from the light source I will not be able to get the whole container under the lights. What I could do, however, is to rotate the container. What do you think of that?

Thanks!
Dale

Sure, or have the container lower. 12" is just what I'm using, the point is to try and give them 14 hours of light even if its 24" or 36" away I think. If you can make the room dark, you can test how far away you need to put them to get the whole container bathed in light. That's what I'd do.

Cheers,
Russ

Thanks Russ. Sounds like a plan.
Veering a bit off topic...do you ever feel kind of overwhelmed?

Dale

Do you mean do I feel overwhelmed by the work to tend to my Dahlias?

If so, the answer is no, not really. I make my daily visit to my shelving and see if there's something to cut. Spritz them all and see if the cuttings need water. That usually only takes 15 minutes or so.

When there are a lot of cuttings, and these days I'm taking 20+ every few days, I just sit down with my soil and stuff and get it done.

I have been starting to pull tubers that have given me lots of cuttings already. I'll admit I find it hard to throw the tuber away, but with no sign of frost-free soil outside and diminishing space for cuttings; I have to make the call.

I'm preparing myself for the disappointment of cuttings failing. I have a couple that look really ill, limp, yellowing, etc...

Cheers,
Russ

It's not the 'raising' part of the journey that overwhelms me. Actually the indoor work is something I really enjoy. Nurturing seeds and tubers to become flowering beauties. It's putting them outside that overwhelms me. I have a small garden space so I worry about fitting everything in just right. Between my Dahlias, my Zinnia and whatever else I can put in there. With the Zinnia I worry that theyre not strong enough to hold their own. With the Dahlia I worry about giving them enough growing space, fertilizing and pinching them and wondering when, if ever, they will bloom.
just my thoughts
Take Care!

Dale,

I have to admit to being creatively challenged. I can copy anything, but to create something entirely my own, well, I just don't feel I have a flair for it yet. I think this is why I tend to be so pedantic, if it fails this time I know exactly what I did and can then choose changes.

My formal Dahlia garden is built around my pond, waterfall, and firebox. Its a non-standard shape, and there are really 4 garden beds in it.

So I took Microsoft Excel and shrunk the cell sizes down to a small square. I let that represent 6", and roughly drew in my stonework. This outlined the beds roughly to scale. I then laid out my Dahlias by filling in squares representing the diameter I thought the Dahlia would get, using its color as fill. For multi-colored Dahlias I used a pattern and fill combination that roughly simulated the colors.

This let me see where I was putting two different Dahlias of roughly the same color too near each other. I used a code system to tell me the flowers hieight so I could also tell when I was putting a taller flower in front of a shorter one (from my viewing perspective in my sunroom.)

So I now have a color drawing tell me where everything is going to go and, really roughly, what its going to look like when its all in bloom.

There are computer programs out there that claim to give you life-like pictures of your gardens, but I've never found one I liked or one that I thought was realistic.

No doubt nature is going to get involved in my plan at some point and changing things to suit her desires, but as a starting point I figure I've got a solid plan.

If you don't have a spreadsheet program, you can do the same thing on a piece of graph paper and a box of crayons.

When I get my website set up I'll post pictures.

Cheers,
Russ

Tracy,

Are you still there?

Hey Russ
I wouldn't say that you're creatively challenged. You just make a pragmatic plan rather than working 'off the cuff I, also, made a plan. I tried working with word as i don't know excel well enough to put in pictures with colors etc. That said, I used Word and tried to map out my space. It didn't work for me:) I couldn't gauge the space. Anyways, as you mentioned, I did a sketch on a really large peace of paper. I drew in existing shrubs and then lay out my Dahlias to the best of my ability. We shall see.
ps
Im going to get my Rubbermaid container today. Yeah!
Take Care!
Dale
pps
i have a new plan for my Zinnia...

Sorry, Dale, I'm still around. Just been really busy with the indoor orchids lately. I had to repot several because they kept growing roots out the side pot holes. What a pain in my derrier. I was also updating my page at junglehobbies.com that I recently joined via orchidboard.

I've been searching for good online mail order places for zinnias and mums too. I had one orange zinnia plant last year and it bloomed profusely for me. So low maintainence (sp?), I adored it. I'd like some larger, multi colored ones. Any suggestions?

Tracy

Hi Tracy
Oh yeahhy, an Orchid person LOL. I am a total newbie with Orchids. Perhaps you can/could help me out. OK, she flowered and was lovely but now what? Do I cut off the stem? Will she bloom again?
As far as Zinnia go...there are oodles of varieties. I tried to narrow my search by only getting Zinnia that won't grow taller than 3 feet. There are so many shapes, colors (and color shades). I got mine at Burpee. I got attached to Burpees Burpeeana Giant mixreally bright with cactus like flowers. Then there's the Zinnia Splendor Hybrid series with bright colorful, compact flowers. Also try Park Seed,
Thompson and Morgan (huge variety) and Select Seeds among others.
Try all the sites as they each have different varieties that only they carry. Then, course, if you dont want to pay shipping for an envelope of seed, you can try Walmart or Home Depot. They had the Burpeeana as well as couple of varieties that I didnt see on the usual sites. You mentioned earlier that you havent started from seed. Im no expert but Id be happy to try to help you out.
As far as mums go...Ive always picked them up at the nursery
Take Care!
Dale

Thanks for the zinnia info Dale! I checked out the Burpees website and I really like the cactus zinnias. I didn't know some of the varieties had 6 inch diameter flowers.

As for your orchid....I'm still a newbie myself so I've only learned enough to rebloom a phal so far. First, what kind of orchid do you have?? Are the flowers shaped like this?
{{gwi:634122}}
If so, then here's what I do. I cut off the spike down as low as possible without injuring the crown. All my phals are grown in an east windowsill now since it's spring but I still supplement with CFL's. I put it in a south window with supplemental artificial lighting during the winter. When summer's here I can leave it in the east window and omit the CFL's. I maintain humidity at 50-75%. I have orchid pots with all those holes so water drains out and the roots don't sit in a puddle. So I water once a week by soaking the entire pot in rain or R/O water with MSU fertilizer at 125ppm for 30 minutes. This will all go well as long as your roots are in good shape. If they are unhealthy, repotting is needed. Also, I adjust the temp to be about 10 degress lower in the night. With the humidity, I try to keep good air circulation too. Hope this helps!

Tracy

For you orchid growers the Garden Buddies has a lot of info & knowledgable orchid growers more than happy to help.
Also a lot of other kinds of flower help from dahlias to shrubs to annuals, etc.
Ellie

The house I am looking for is going to have alot of glass so I can start things early. The tub idea appeals to me but I have two cats if you get the idea? If I put the tubs on a card table under a light, I might get a little surprise!

You can cover teh tubs with tin-foil to keep out pets. Every day or so lift it to see if there's a new sprout. If there is, poke a hole in the tin-foil with a pen and expand it with your finger so the sprout can come through.

My dogs kept taking my tubers out of my lowest flat until I did this, they thought it was something to play with like a ball...;-]

Cheers,
Russ

My dahlias just popped out of the ground, Dale. I planted 3 but only see 2. The third one was kind of "iffy" looking.

Susan

Hey Susan...welcome back!
I'm so pleased that your Dahlias are showing their faces (2 out of 3 anyway) I still haven't gotten my tubers yet! I'm all set though. I have Rubbermaid containers and potting soil just waiting for the mailman to come around!
How goes your other spaces? Is your shade garden doing its thing?
I've got 40 Zinnia seedlings and am in a bit of a panic. It turns out that I started them too early and they've already grown out of their space. I should repot them but I don't have the room or the light. I'm very sad but I did pick up a few more bags of seed that I can start closer to the 'putting them out' time just in case these dont make it.
Yes, Zinnia are susceptible to mildew but theyre so exciting, lovely, prolific that its worth a little bit of aggravation.
Tell me what else. How does your garden grow?

Dale

Yes, the cat/tub thing could prove to be a problem.
Russ's idea seems to be a good one. I suppose you could use pots if you have the room. I don't think a cat would venture into a pot to do its thing. Of course, I dont know your set up (or your cats).
My last house had wonderful; windows everywhere. I found these shelves that you attached to the window. It was wonderful. I had seedlings everywhere.
How goes the search? Are you looking to stay in Groton? It's a lovely area. You mentioned previously that you might be interested in a condo. I'm in Chelmsford, not too far off.
Well, I got the tubs. I ended up getting the shoebox type as I have so little room. Now I need the potting soil and even more importantly, I need the bulbs. I feel a little like an expectant mother.
Have your beds been able to shed the snow? Have you been able to work and amend the soil? More importantlyhave the Dahlias arrived?!

I'm trying to find a better way to water my dahlias this year and prevent rot, while at the same time giving the roots enough water when they need it. Has anyone tried drip irrigation or are familiar with it at all?

I haven't tried drip irrigation, but last year I put my Dahlias in pots once they'd sprouted somewhat before they went in the ground. I mixed those water hording crystals into the soil and put that into the pots. When I put them into the ground, I included all the pot soil, including the water globs.

My beds were then watered via the sprinkler system, with those zones getting less than the grass (but they did get watered every day.)

No rot and everything seemed to grow well.

This year I won't be using the crystals again (apart from water is in the Miracle Grow Moisture Control soil.)

I was thinking about re-designing the garden bed sprinklers so they'd put their gentle spray out higher. Of course this will leave spots on petals, but I'm not showing so I'm not really concerned. I'm wondering, however, if I should instead be thinking about just watering the soil and forget about the leaves completely??

Cheers,
Russ

Russ,
I think it depends on your summer weather. We had 80's and 90's hot and humid but barely any rain until close to autumn last year. I avoided watering the foliage because I was worried about disease. So I ended up in spider mite city. The year before, I watered the foliage every day because I didn't know any better, but that year I never dealt with spider mites. I guess when you blast the undersides of the leaves every now and then with water, this is supposed to help with spider mites. Also, when it got really hot, spraying the foliage seemed to help them perk up. I don't know, Russ. Those darn pests drove me to drink last year. If you decide to not water the foliage this year, let me know how it all goes....

Tracy

Russ
You mentioned using MG moisture control soil. How do you incorporate it into your soil? Do you backfill each Dahlia with it?
As far as sprinklers go...I am on a never ending search for the perfect sprinkler. I think, after several years of non-use, that I will try, once again, the type that stakes in the ground and delivers an oscillating spray that hits only the low leaves. I've worked with irrigation hoses before and just found that i couldn't get them in place in such a way that everyone got water. As far as Spider Mites goIm taking darn bug preventative measures! And mildewwell I hope to be on top with that as well.

Dale,

Last year I dug a hole big enough to allow me to put the entire contents of the 8" pot into it. This year, since everything will be in 4" pots, the holes will be smaller. The pots are full of the MG Moisture Control, and that's all I'll use. The beds have good new soil in them already.

If I were going to mix MG soil with the outdoor stuff, I'd dig a hole bigger than needed and put the contents from the bed into a bucket and then add MG to it and mix and put back around the plant once its in the ground.

As for sprinklers, I have an in-ground system with different heads at the garden beds. Those are pop-ups that put out a mist. The heads can be mounted on top of pipe to practically any height I want.

Cheers,
Russ

Hey Russ

Are you saying that you start the dormant tubers in the MG Moisture control? Does that have built in fertilizer (that's a bad thing, right?) I haven't gotten my soil for my tubers yet. Do you recommend going with the moisture control
Thanks and Take Care!

Dale

I started my tubers in a 50-50 mix of MG Seed Starter and peat. The Seed Starter was benign, and I'll admit I'm not really sure what, if anything, it added but the name sounded like it would help...;-]

I've put cuttings into the 4" pots, not tubers.

As far as recommending the Moisture Control, I don't think I would. I find that the pots still dry out fairly quickly, which wasn't what I was expecting to happen. Next year I will probably go back to using the moisture crystals mixed into a cheaper potting soil. I may even try the sand idea I read on here recently.

Cheers,
Russ

Hey Russ,
Is there a particular brand of topsoil you're using in the beds? And how can you tell if it's been treated with herbicides? I've looked at some bags of topsoil and it doesn't say. I was told topsoil is excellent for dahlia beds but it cannot be treated for weeds because the plants will not tolerate any herbicides.

My beds were filled with local top soil, which I know hasn't had herbicides because I have used it before and got lots of portulaca and other wild flowers out of it.

When I have bought bags, I've bought "Hillview Black Earth" and/or "Triple Mix." I've relied upon the people in the garden centers to tell me whether or not the soil has been treated or not, and as far as I can tell, they haven't steered me wrong yet.

The best advice I read about Dahlias and soil is to ensure that whatever you get is recommended for vegetables. If its good for vegetables, its good for Dahliaspretty simple.

Cheers,
Russ

OK Russ,
One more time around. And i don't mean to beat a dead horse (or sound stupid) but... Ideally, what would you suggest for starting my Dahlias? MG potting mix (Which i understand contains no soil). Or run of the mill potting mix.
Thanks!
Dale

I used a 50-50 mix of MG Seed Starter and Peat. It worked well, so I'd recommend it.

Cheers,
Russ

Hi Everyone,

Been reading this thread and discovering we most all have stuff in common. This is my first year of being a Dahlia addict. I had 3 last year that a neighbor gave me and that was that. I know have bought 39 between co-ops and nurseriess, not to mention about 10 more from Walmart. I have them all starting in my new greenhouse and a lot of them are leafing but some have not broke through yet. I just tilled up a circular garden about 15 ft around with a dwarf peach tree in the middle.It was the only place I could make a dahlia garden! I have no idea what I am doing and much of the research I do contradicts the next research I read, so I guess alot.

One question I have is some of the tubers I started have sent up a long reddish color stem then got leaves on the tips, should I bury the long shoot or just leave it sticking up when I transplant to the garden. I am hoping to get some of the tubers into the bed next weekend.

I am so excited to get this bed started! Dahlias are awesome!

Thanks,
Susan

Hello Susan,

I think it depends on how tall your sprouts/ plants are when you put them in the ground. If your little sprout is only about 2 inches tall, I'd probably cover it. Also, I hope you won't be planting too close to the peach tree. I'm assuming your tree has an extensive root system. Each tuber you put in will grow into a mass of tubers of its own (unless that particular variety is not a big tuber maker). Some of the plants I dug up last year had tuber masses that were about 2 feet across. I don't know how big your tree is but if the dahlias are under a big shaded tree then you may have trouble since they need alot of sun. Some of the dark reds may benefit from a little shade once they bloom but lots of shade all the time? I don't know....

Anyways, keep us posted and hopefully some of the experts here will chime in to give you some info too.

Tracy

My peach tree is a dwarf it is only 7 ft tall and about 4 ft around. The peach tree may be going away anyway. it seems to have a trunk disease. I was going to give it one more season but I have been thinking about what yopu mentioned and I would haet to have it die a year from now and have to move all the dahlias to get rid of it. I bought it when we moved here because I was tickled to be living in a state where I could grow peaches, little did I know how hard they are to care for. I have got a few peaches the first year and that was 4 years ago.

Thanks for the thoughts, has me re-thinking this.

Susan

If your garden is truly 15' across, there's just no way you're going to get 39 Dahlias in there and have them grow well (since you said they are mostly taller varieties.) Even at 30' across (e.g. 15' radius) I still can't imagine how 39 are going to do well.

They're going to be too close to each other and crowd each other out. There'll be no way to get sun up and down the entire plant, blooms will be buried in foilage, and the effort will likely result in a mass of green leaves.

Dahlias generally bloom top to bottom if you're not pruning them the way show people do. They need air circulation to prevent disease, and as Tracy says, sun light.

If you've no other garden to put your tubers in, then consider just giving them away to others who may have space, or in the worst case, find some open land (e.g. vacant lot) nearby and plant them there.

I can't imagine a design that would fit more than 10 in a 15' diameter bed (think of a wheel with spokes) and even that's very tight and assumes there's shorter varieties involved.

Further, if they're all on the same level then how are you going to see the flowers of those in an inner circle versus those on the outside. The foilage on most Dahlias is very dense.

There's still time to buy shorter varieties and create a tiered effect. Remember, space according to their height. A 6' plant should have 3' all the way around it.

Cheers,
Russ

Hi Dale, I am also in MA, zone 5, actually not too far from the NH border, the say about 10 miles to Nashua. I'm Northwest of Boston, we just purcharsed this house at the end of last summer so this is my first year growing Dahlias and I am so excited. My grandmother use to grow them in her garden and I thought they were just the prettiest looking flowers and the fact that they bloomed at the end of the summer made them even more intriguing to me.

I started two perennial beds at the end of last summer and have been winter sowing tons of annual and perennials, probably too many to plant, I'm sure.

Anyway, I started my Dahlia tubers indoors in smaller pots using Shultz Seed Starter Plus Potting and Planting Mix. I wanted the shorter variety of Dahlia and still may look into purchasing a couple but will use the bulbs I have, which are Edge of Joy and Claire Obscur. I'm hoping I can pinch them back to make them a little more bushier so they don't grow too tall.

Anyway, it good to hear from a fellow Massachusetts native.

Happy Gardening!
Linda

Thank you Russ. I have some other places for them also so I will spread them around my yard.

Thanks,
Susan

Hey folks
1st off, Russ, I am sooo embarrassed. I was just looking through some old posts and found where you said quite simply that you used MG seed starter and Peat. I apologize for my lack of observance!

Ya know, Im still not too sure I should be starting these guys inside. My basement is only about 60 degrees. I suppose i could use one of my heated seedling mats.

Hi Linda,
You make me so jealous! When i moved to the area I moved into a house with tons of gardening potential. In my 5 years there I grew fabulous gardens. A cottage garden, a cutting garden, a veggie...anyway you get the idea. Now Im in a condo. As far as shorter varieties of Dahlia, the shortest I could find were at Swan Island Dahlias. They had a 12", a few 18" and quite a few 2' and 2/12' varieties. Tell me, are you going to mix you Dahlias into your perennial beds or will you dedicate a bed for them? You mention starting from seed. Are you just going with seedlings or have you/will you be purchasing some grown guys as well?
I'm about 10 minutes from Nashua.

Take Care all!

Dale

Hey Russ,

How are the cuttings looking now?? Any pics yet? Better yet, how about your website you were working on? Can't wait to see your garden once it's in bloom!

Tracy

Hello All,
I LOVE dahlias and have been growing them awhile. I overwinter the tubers in my basement and have had some luck. I have started tubers indoors in pots hoping to get an "early start". It never seems to be early enough. This year I plan to "cheat". I will splurge on a flowering dahlia from a home center and plant it at my back door. This should hold me over until the blooming of my tubers begins. Thank you for recommendations for purchasing from other sources. I placed an order today.
I live in Massachusetts and this website is great.

Hi garden83

Welcome

How are your eary starters working out? How many have you got going? I'm in Mass as well. I really would like to get my early starters out well,early but i am holding back. Today it was only in the 50's so i think i'm doing the right thing.
How long have you been a 'Dahlia Gardener'?

Update per Tracy's request:

I have 118 Dahlias, representing 18 varieties, in 4" pots that are definitely rooted. A few are >12" tall, however most are less but filling out nicely despite not being topped. These are largely from the 17 varieties I over-wintered from last year. A couple, like Emory Paul and Seduction, just barely made it giving me only 2 viable cuttings. I have a lot to learn about taking cuttings.

In addition to those above, I have 49 of my 68 Dahlias that I am planting in my own Dahlia gardens rooted in 4" pots. This represents 32 of the 48 varieties Im planting this year. There are 5 varieties, all 2008 tubers, which I have not yet been able to take a cutting from (despite them arriving on March 12.) At least they all have eyes. Ive had only one dud 2008 tuber, a Sayonara, but luckily I ordered 4 of them.

My inexperience in taking cuttings has led to days where I take a lot, but none take root. I was under-watering thinking it would stimulate root growthwhich I now believe to be totally wrong thanks to some advice. I also think I was taking cuttings either too early or simply not ensuring that there was a viable node going into the soil. At one point a week or so ago I went through all of my cuttings and dipped those that werent growing into rooting hormone. I think this exercise was a mistakedisturbing them wasnt a good idea I think.

Meanwhile, I replaced my lighting in my sunroom and built a bench in there to sit the 4" pots on. The bench is 16 long and 16" wide. I found some stove protectors that hold 16 4"x4" pots perfectly, and the bench holds 12 of these trays. Thats room for 170 Dahlias. The new lighting fills my 20x20 sunroom amazingly, and is only costing me ~1.2kWhr/day running 14 hours. Im going out tomorrow to get the pieces for another bench of the same size, as the first one is almost completely full. If my new idea for a shelf works out, Ill re-arrange the lighting to hang more closely to the plants and eliminate my rack shelving I had in the main house. Right now the sunroom lighting is ~8 above the lights so I know it could be better, but the Dahlias dont seem to be suffering.

I could use some advice on small stakes. A few of the Dahlias are getting to the point where they could use some staking. I have 36" stakes, but theyd be too big I think in a 4" pot amongst others.

Meanwhile, I planted a few old tubers in some indoor containers. I want to see if I can keep these growing year round. Im using Lemon Tart and Purple Taiheijo for this experiment. I have one small Lemon Tart tuber clump that has 2 main stems which Im allowing to grow as is. Its amazing, and it wouldnt surprise me if I see blooms starting this week. The dogs managed to break off the best Purple Taiheijo stem, but luckily there are several others there ready to take its place.

Outside, my new Dahlia gardens around the pond and stream have been finished. It remains only for me to go out and measure and paint in my Dahlia codes. Im a little worried that my design isnt going to transfer to real-life 1:1, cause Im not sure where Ill put them if not there. This week were having rain, and possibly snow, so I have time to think about it;-]

I made up a binder of my pictures of my 2007 Dahlias so people coming to buy have something to look at. I made each picture "life sized" to give them the best impression. My first ad ran last Friday and I sold 2 on Saturday, at $5 each. I was sorta hoping sales would free up space on my benchwishful thinking;-]

Finally, I will admit to being overwhelmed as Dale suggested before. I am being ruthless with my cuttings now, especially for my 2007 tubers. If I have a viable cutting, and a new cutting isnt rooting, I toss it. Ive had so many different thoughts about what a good cutting is Im losing perspective. All I know is that I cant stand a wilted and black-leafed cutting. After taking more than 400 cuttings, Im now really only interested in making sure I get viable cuttings from those that I have not yet gotten. I still hold out hope that all of my plantings will be from cuttingsbut if I have to; Ill plant tubers come the 24th of May.

Live and learnright;-]

I will have time to do the web site once my Dahlias are planted out, or, after I decide to stop taking cuttings. Sorry, but it will be there for next year, I promise.

Cheers,
Russ