Houston area Dahlias

Walmart had bulbs on sale for $1. I bought several. Can I plant them now, or should a wait a couple of months and pland them in the Fall? Is starting indoors now an option? I am in zone 9. Hot and humid.

They were probably on sale because it was the end of the season. I'd get them in the ground as soon as possible. They are not really bulbs, but actually a group of tubers with generally one and sometimes two main stems. If you open the package, you should look to see if they are growing. How good the bulbs are is directly dependent on the individual management of that store.

For us they grow in the summer heat and keep going until the frost. If they are small plants and don't grow more then 16" high or so, they are great border plants. However, the larger blooms come on larger plants, and they can grow to 5 or 6 feet or more. They must be staked, and the blooms can be quite heavy. At the end of the season, they must be pulled up and stored during our cold winters. I would guess that in your zone once they are planted you are set. They probably go dormant for a while and die down, and sprout up again in few months. It may be that the dahlias sold in your zone are of a different variety than those sold up north.