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pdshop

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pdshop
15 years ago

I thought I would be a goner last night as we got a frost. I covered as much as I could. The neighbors must love the sheets. There was some ice on the sheets this AM but I made it another day. It is supposed to warm up in the next few days so I want to make it. I still have huge buds on the plants and it is such a shame for them to go. Have a good day

Comments (11)

  • j_nail
    15 years ago

    *sigh*

    Yeah, we're expecting low 30's or even high 20's by the end of this week. Plus today we're expecting high winds, 15-30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph.

    I still have one Dahlia that hasn't bloomed yet, but the buds were just starting to swell and break on Saturday. I'll be really sad if I don't see at least one bloom on it. My Dahlia's were seriously late to bloom this year. Once they started, the temps were cool enough that it slowed it down even more. Now I've had less than 10 blooms open between 4 plants that are loaded with buds and then the above mentioned plant. If they survive the winds I'll toss a sheet out later.

    Good luck to you pdshop!

    Janelle

  • sturgeonguy
    15 years ago

    FWIW, my experience is that frost at this time of the year is no problems. Mine were blooming until November 15 last year. Consider that I'm on the side of a shallow bay, meaning I get more air frost that most because of the added humidity, my bay isn't big enough to hold heat. Maybe I get ground frost later, but air frost comes sooner here.

    We had 33 degrees yesterday, and 35 two days ago. My blooms are vibrant and looking even perkier than usual.

    I would suggest you stop trying to cover and just enjoy your Dahlias, unbroken due to sheets of whatever, until they're actually killed. It will take longer periods of near freezing weather to kill them.

    Dead-head, and trim back excess branches, and give your plants as much support as you can (by cutting back what the stems need to feed, not more stakes.) You'll be surprised, and make you more in love with Dahlias, by giving yourself the experience to see how resilliant they are.

    I had our Mayor here on Friday, and he was absolutely amazed at the bloom production I've got going on. He said he wanted to get our "Communities in Bloom" people out quickly to capture what I've got here. I said; "Hey, no rush, they'll be here for another month!"

    I believe that, and I'll take pictures to prove it when they start succumbing to frost in November.

    Cheers,
    Russ

  • j_nail
    15 years ago

    Thanks for the good advice and reassurance Russ. This is only my second year seriously growing Dahlias and I couldn't remember what they did last year. I finally started a garden journal to keep track of such things so I will be making notes this year! We'll see how they fare after today's wind storm. It was pretty brutal, and I saw a little bit of what looked like wind burn already showing by noon today. I can't say for sure since I couldn't stand to be out there long myself!

    BTW, there was one bloom open on the above mentioned plant so I nipped it off and it is very pretty! Glad I got to see it!

    Thanks again! Congrats on the complement from the Mayor of your town! Looking forward to more photos!

    Janelle

  • pdshop
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks for the support. I use these big very lite bags that are for frost protection and they don't break anything. I just got them at the garden center. I am glad I made it as we are going into warmer weather for a few days. Do you know a way to list what I want to keep and the color, before they all turn black and I have forgotten where I planted things?

  • vikingcraftsman
    15 years ago

    Good luck pdshop , I labled every thing this year. I have little metal plates with indeleable ink on them. I also used pieces of wood with indelible ink. A lot of the wood faded so now I am stuck again. Running around trying to burn the names into the wood so I know what I have. With around a hundred plants it is a job.

  • sturgeonguy
    15 years ago

    I used an Excel spreadsheet to make a "drawing" of my beds so I would know which was which regardless whether labels survived or not.

    As I lift them I have new wooden stakes, labeled according to the spreadsheet, to put into the 4" pots so they won't get mixed up.

    If you don't have pots in the ground and just the plants, I'd suggest you tie a tag onto the stems near the ground. Poker chips are cheap and readily available, just drill a hole in to pass your twist tie through. Write on that with a Permanent Sharpie, and just put a number on each one. Write a journal inside explaining what each number represents.

    Do be careful when lifting as often tubers will break off. Those that do typically aren't viable (no crown material) but if one is viable, just use masking take to tape it to other tubers in the clump to keep them together.

    Cheers,
    Russ

  • Poochella
    15 years ago

    It's a great idea to have transferrable labels Pd. I use twist ties in bulk and plastic labels with either pencil or Sharpie inscription. Very inexpensive and they move very readily from stake in the spring, to clump or stalk in late fall.

    Another alternative is to get a cheap roll of surveryors' tape at HD or Lowes and use a Sharpie to jot the name/color on your plants. I use these to flag the ones I don't want to keep, but they'd work for ID's too.

    Some people take a notebook and map out their plants as Russ said. That might be a good back up plan. For me, nothing replaces a label.

  • pdshop
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    That is so Russ to do such a complete job. They were all labeled when I put them in but varmits took the little sticks. The ones that remain, the Sharpie has faded. I am going to use my order forms which I printed out in color and will be able to do some that way. Others by pictures. For some reason I can't wait to see the tubers.Amother question. I read to cut off the stalk after frost and than leave tubers in the ground about a week so that eyes would form? Do we want eyes this early or will they just fade away and pop out again in the Spring?

  • sturgeonguy
    15 years ago

    Lol pdshop...;-]

    You want eyes now if you want to divide the clumps now. The eyes will show you where to cut the clump.

    If you're going to divide the clump in the spring, then eyes now don't matter.

    Personally, eyes now is better IMO. You only store those tubers that could grow, don't have to store as many, and can ensure that each is separate from the other (via the Saran Method) to prevent disease killing a clump versus a single tuber.

    Eyes, once formed, won't "fade away". By keeping them out of the light they'll simply go dormant as they are, and once warmed up and given light will continue to grow in the spring.

    Cheers,
    Russ

  • j_nail
    15 years ago

    Well, happy killing frost to me!

  • pdshop
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I feel for you j nail . I am dreaading the thought of a frost. Thanks for the eye info Russ. It will save space. I love to know things in advance like the stock market!!!!

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