This spring I despaired of ever getting the dahlia tubers in the ground. Dahlias like night temps in at least the fifties (F) and warm days and the entire month of May stayed in the 40’s!
The dahlias I overwintered and purchased sat in the basement and started sprouting on their own. I finally messaged Merry from Dreamland Flower Farm (I buy gorgeous dahlia tubers from her) and asked her advice. She said they should be fine so let the planting begin!
Except…the rabbits. The dahlias had to wait until we got the rabbit fencing up. [I wrote about that project here.]
Since I have more plants this year, some clumps are big, and they were going into a no-till row instead of a raised bed, I thought a bit about the mechanics of planting. Eventually I decided just plant one at a time down the row. But in true form for the Lessons Were Learned theme this year, experience is the best teacher.
I started off with the new dahlia tubers, planting each one. BAD PLAN! I couldn’t tell where I planted them once they were covered in mulch to measure spacing.
Then I laid them out on top of the mulch, planning 18″ apart. The row is 3′ wide and 20′ long, and I laid them out in 2 lines, staggered, looking like this: . . . . . . .
I planted halfway down the row, and suddenly thought, I have an awful lot of tubers still left in boxes. Then realized I mis-measured to 27″ apart. Now I had to dig up the ones already planted.
Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up! 🙃
This time, I wisely moved all of the mulch off the row, exposing the cardboard I laid down last fall. Now I laid the tubers out, correctly spaced, and could see where I planted them. The twine is a guide to keep the rows straight.
I purposely planned this row for the dahlias since one side is the 4′ rabbit fencing, a sturdy support to help keep the dahlias upright.
What a cute dahlia tuber ♥ from Dreamland Flower Farm, Black Satin. It’s two weeks in the ground now.
I’m pleased with how well the dahlia tubers I dug up and over-wintered fared. Only 2 tubers died.
I did not attempt dividing them; I’m not yet confident enough to locate the tubers with ‘eyes’ or growth points. By leaving them in clumps last fall, they will be bigger and stronger plants this year.
I remembered to label them as I dug them up last fall. It’s impossible to tell what variety a dahlia is once it dies back- all tubers look alike!
Here is one of my clumps from last year and what she’ll look like all grown up!
The tags came in handy since I didn’t need to make markers for these tubers. I tied the tags to fence corresponding to the planting row. I think it looks fun.
Of course, I ran out of room, especially when I discovered more forgotten tubers in the basement! Those went into one of the other rows, where they can cozy up to some zinnias.
Two weeks later- not all have broken ground yet but we’ve yet to reach summer weather so no worries.
There is loads of info on planting, growing, and dividing dahlias online. Dreamland has great info!
Are you a dahlia lover? Do you grow dahlias and overwinter them yourself? I’d love to know!
Hugs, Pam 💮