Dahlietta Has Tuber On It???

About a month ago at Lowe's, in their clearance section, they had a couple of pitiful looking little plants with a tag that said "Dahlietta Margaret Improved Dahlia". Bought two of them (only .50 each), brought them home & put them on my deck in full sun. One flowered, the other is just starting to develop flower buds. Transplanted them today into my flower bed, and instead of lots of roots, each plant has a roundish tuber on it that looks more like a flower bulb, each the size of a ping-pong ball!
I've planted Dahlinovas before (just roots on the plants), figured Dahlietta's would be similar. Are they supposed to have tubers on them? Since they are hybrid plants, will I be able to dig & store the tubers next fall?

Jolie, I thought all dahlias would form a tuber if left in the ground. I don't know about Dahlinovas. Why don't you post your question to the Dahlia Assoc. They have a website.

I plant seeds and get tubers.

Some hybrids revert to their parents. I definitely hope you store it to see if it's viable and also to see what it grows into next year. Very exciting!!

I think so too.

Thanks for all the replies, I've just never seen a tuber at the end of the season on these
small dahlia plants before (although I didn't get tubers from my bigger dahlias either, combination of poorly draining soil & lots of rain). Hope the tuber is still viable at the end of the season, so I can try to grow it again next year. Would love to see what comes back next year!

They are tubers, you can save them and they will grow again - for years if you keep saving and dividing the tubers. I have some that are at least five years old.

Jolie, Pirl is right. Those are tubers and yes, they will grow more and more tubers. You can probably get other people to trade with you.

I bought some Hello Gorgeous! dahlias (dahliettas?) last year they grow about 8-10 inches tall or so and they had quite a few tubers to each plant by the end of the season and they very surprisingly lasted over the winter time. I threw the tubers into 3 inch pots a month ago and they're all sprouting now. I bought 10 more Hello! Gorgeous plants last week because they work great for borders.

This message was edited Apr 26, 2010 10:35 AM

edewitt, that is a beautiful dahlia!