I took my Dahlias out of storage today (279 tubers). They look good. Lots of buds. If a tuber does not have a visible bud, I discard it. I use the Saran warp method of storage.

I should be able to plant them over the next week or so. They will end up in 6 or 7 different garden beds.

I am down to 76 varieties. Makes it a lot easier to plant. A few years ago I had over 300 varieties (to much work).

I did not buy any new Dahlias this year, although I was tempted by todays 30% off Swan Island sale. However, I do have one new dahlia this year... Nadine Jessie . I was one of the lucky winners of Peter's drawing (earlier this year). I potted it up and it is up to 4 to 5 inches tall in the greenhouse. Thanks Peter!

I have planted dahlias in early May here in Michigan, but I find that they really don't grow that well until the ground warms up. One year I started a couple of hundred in pots in the greenhouse. It was a lot of work, but I did have early blooms:). Now I am content to wait.

It must be very exciting as you pull the dahlias out of storage. 279 tubers is still a LOT of tubers so I salute you in digging, splitting, and storing so many.

How in the world did you manage with 300 varieties (assuming you have multiples of some so the actual number of tubers must be a lot higher). And all those pots.....you have a lot more energy than I.

I also told myself no more additional new tubers this year. The 5 that I split, I gave the extras away. I only have about 65 dahlia plants total, maybe 50 varieties. I don't have much of a back yard, so have to intersperse my dahlias in the front yard. Since I leave most of them in the ground, I only know if they survive the winter as they sprout out - I lose more dahlias to snails than not having the tubers survive the winter. I was also trying to cut down on the amount of work in the garden......

I grew my first dahlia 6 years ago - getting maybe 10-12 new ones a year. It was hard resisting the temptation to get new ones. As I look at what other people are planting, I am beginning to regret my decision in not getting any new ones this year. There are so many neat varieties out there.

Wow Frank! I thought my 40 or so was a lot. I do start mine in pots. But I actually have not found them to really bloom much earlier. Mostly I do it to control the amount of water they get until they are really up and going.

I would love to visit some time. Do you do informal garden tours?

Frank - you amaze me.

I'm more like Jennifer with less than 50 dahlias.

jvdubb said:Wow Frank! I thought my 40 or so was a lot. I do start mine in pots. But I actually have not found them to really bloom much earlier. Mostly I do it to control the amount of water they get until they are really up and going.

I would love to visit some time. Do you do informal garden tours?

You are welcome to visit anytime!

Very exciting Frank! I will contact you later in June to arrange a time to visit at some point this summer.

I finished planting Dahlia tubers on May 31. I wish I could say I am just waiting around, watching for the first breakthrough. Instead, I am very busy in other garden areas:)

Heh-heh.

Never will I think these plants are anything less than simply amazing! I got tied up with other things this year and didn't end up getting my tubers out of my crawlspace until just a few weeks ago. I thought that one of them for sure would be a goner, either that, or I'd get foliage but no blooms...so I tossed it in the compost pile and left it be. Guess what? That crazy thing looks like it has buds already!! From 22" of white stalks to this... in a matter of weeks?!?!!


This is either Boogie Woogie or Kharma Sangria. I can't remember off-hand which one.

Amazing!

Last year I put a volunteer tomato (from our former vegetable garden) in the compost pile and they were fantastic tomatoes that kept until January 1st!

It is amazing how resilient those tubers are. They look nice and happy in your compost pile.
Did you get your other tubers planted?

I did get the others planted, Dianne, but they're not budding yet. Luckily, they all seem to be growing well enough so far.