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Message |
    
Euclidious
Citizen
Username: Euclidious
Post Number: 39
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, July 30, 2006 - 10:38 pm: | 
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More specifically, do Dahlia tubers need to be dug out of the ground immediately after the first frost in Maplewood? Thanks very much for your consideration. |
tjohn
Supporter
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 4597
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, July 30, 2006 - 10:58 pm: |
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I don't know anything about dahlias, but this website for the North Jersey Dahlia Society might be helpful.
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/njdahlia/index.htm |
Amateur Night
Citizen
Username: Deborahg
Post Number: 1918
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 7:13 am: |
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We bought some tubers at home depot, of allplaces, and they came up beautifully in containers. I plan to put them in the garage for the winter. |
Amateur Night
Citizen
Username: Deborahg
Post Number: 1919
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 7:13 am: |
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PS aren't peonies a form of dahlia? You don't need to dig those out, I know.... |
Sherri De Rose
Citizen
Username: Honeydo
Post Number: 374
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 8:16 am: |
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Amateur night....I have been gardening for 22 years. If peonies are a form of Dahlia then this is the first I've heard of this. I'd be interested to know where you read this. Always looking for more info on gardening. Don't know why but I never had luck with Dahlias. Meanwhile, my neighbor across the street has beautiful ones every year. |
juju's petals
Citizen
Username: Jujus_petals
Post Number: 309
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 8:56 am: |
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We bought a bag of bulbs this spring from Costco, of all places, and we're suprised at how well they are doing now in a very sunny location. Do we really have to dig up the bulbs in the winter? That's not my cup of tea. It looked like they were hearty through zone 4 -- aren't we zone 4? While the flowers keep going, sometimes the blooms seem rather small, even stunted on one side. Not sure why but suspect some kind of bug, probably japaneese beetle. |
Amateur Night
Citizen
Username: Deborahg
Post Number: 1921
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 9:57 am: |
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Hi Sherri,
This is the quote from TJohn's Web URL, above, for the NJ Dahlia club: Dahlias became wildly popular in Europe for decorative reasons, and the dahlia-mania of 1815 resulted in 1,000 hybrids and varieties by 1836. That number is long surpassed by today's 40,000 plus named dahlias in 19 categories of form, from pompon to cactus, from single-anemone style to the exuberant peony.
So, don't know if it's valid, but that's where I got it! |
Sherri De Rose
Citizen
Username: Honeydo
Post Number: 376
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 3:54 pm: |
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Thanks Amateur...learn something new every day. |
Pdg
Citizen
Username: Pdg
Post Number: 1110
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 5:42 pm: |
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We're zone 6. Generally, dahlias will not survive NJ winters. That said, 3 of my 7 that I neglected to get dug up in time, came up again this year and are gorgeous!
I have great success with dahlias and don't do anything special except water them and at the time of planting give them some organic fertilizer (as I do all my perennials). Oh, you'll often need to stake dahlias or put growing cages around them, and if you cut off the dead flowers you'll get reblooming.
Try www.whiteflowerfarms.com for great plants!
Good luck! |
juju's petals
Citizen
Username: Jujus_petals
Post Number: 311
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 8:12 am: |
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pdg, how far down the stem should I cut off the dead flowers? I've just been yanking off the browned and dead blooms where the bloom meets the stem. And you're right about the stakes and cages, one has gone at little nuts but seems to keep right on blooming.
So, how does this digging up the bulbs work? Do you do it in the fall and just store them in the basement until spring? |
Maplewoody
Citizen
Username: Maplewoody
Post Number: 1295
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 10:05 pm: |
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Leave them in the ground and cover with mulch or pine bark.
OR dig up (gently) and put in PeatMoss and into a paperbag and store someplace dark & dry indoors.
Check to see they are not rotting once or twice during the winter months.
A garage that has no heat is too cold, and they'll freeze.
I love them, esp. the BIG dinnerplate ones!
Those damned Japanese Beetles...... |
Monster©
Supporter
Username: Monster
Post Number: 4329
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 10:37 pm: |
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the subject line reminded me of an old booty call girl of mine, her name was Dahlia
w o o o o o w e e e e e e e !!!!!!
but she lived in PA |
Pdg
Citizen
Username: Pdg
Post Number: 1118
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 2, 2006 - 3:17 pm: |
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Juju - I don't think it really matters how far down the stem you dead-head. I think having a tall stem without a flower on it looks funny, so I dead head until the next branching of stems.
My digging up is not very textbook. I basically dig them up, leaving a bit of dirt on the bulbs, put them in plastic grocery bags that I lable with a marker (color and location) and I tie them shut and put them in the garage and forget about them. (Our garage is attached, and insulated but not heated.) I ignore them until mid spring when I say "Hey, I better try to find the dahlias and get them planted." They are usually already sprouting pale green sprouts and happily take-off once planted. (This is not ideal, and a wise gardener would mark their calendar to plant at a time when they haven't yet tried to grow in a plastic bag.)
You'll be amazed at how many bulbs your plant gets over the summer, and I usually pull them apart if they are too clumpy. Healthly bulbs will grow new plants the following year. |
mim
Citizen
Username: Mim
Post Number: 671
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 2, 2006 - 4:03 pm: |
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That reference to peonies refers to 'peony-flowered' dahlias. The two plants are not related -- it's just a description of the flowers of certain dahlias.
I've never done splendidly with dahlias. I've got one in a pot which bloomed decently early in the season but is now is simply sulking. No growth, no flowers. Couldn't be duller or more useless. Possibly they don't like such heat. |
calypso
Citizen
Username: Calypso
Post Number: 62
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 - 8:59 am: |
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I wait until Fall, when most of their energy is out of the leaves and in the tubers. then dig up the tubers and cut off all of the stem except an inch or so. Shake off the dirt, then put them in either paper bags or a cardboard box, with a few dry leaves for padding, and put them in the attic under the eaves, so they are cold but not frozen. I think plastic bags encourage mold. Last year I too had some overwinter and come up this spring, thanks to the wonders of global warming. |
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