Want to give Dahlias another shot.

Hello everybody !!!!
I tried growing dahlias a couple of years ago and they grew and bloomed some but nothing like I've seen in pictures here. I was wondering if maybe I should plant in the fall and enjoy through winter and spring in my zone. I'm in zone 10b and the last time that I planted was late spring for me. Needless to say when the summer heat and rains came around they were goners. So what do you all think??? Grow them opposite as up north and give them their dormancy through summer here ??? Any thought and suggestions will be appreciated as well as where can I get tubers at a reasonable price.
Thank you and happy gardening !!!

I'm in Zone 4, so I can't help with the planting question, but for reasonably priced tubers I really like Swan Island Dahlias and Jan's Country Garden. I have had great success with tubers from both places and thought both had decent pricing. I also ordered from Old House Dahlias this year and thought their prices were fair, but can't attest to their quality or success until I get them in the ground and see what happens. Hope you have better luck this year!

Roly - I've only vacationed in Florida so maybe someone more familiar with growing dahlias in your zone could help you.

Try planting one when you plant tomatoes. They both enjoy the same temperatures.

Thank you both for your responses. According to sources in South Florida, tomatoes can be grown from August through March. So pirl I think that you were right about the temperatures. Now the problem is to find a source that has dahlias for sale that late in the season as most sellers are done by that time if I'm not mistaken. I have purchased from Swan Island Dahlias and I am really not that impressed. I will try Jan's and see though Swan Island has a huge selection !!!

Some dahlia places begin selling in August for the following year. I have no idea if they could or would ship to you then since the plants are still in growth.

Thanks again pirl!!! I actually just got of the phone with Swan Island and asked them when was the latest that they would ship. They said June, 7th so I will be placing my order sometime in late May then keep my tubers stored until September. I anticipate a new raised bed in the new house soon!!!!

They have great customer service.

I wish you luck. Let's hope your plan works. Cover them well if you get a cold spell.

These are 2 out of 4 tubers that were sent to me by a gardening friend. I am so happy that they have started blooming for me. Looking forward to a winter full of flowers !!!

This message was edited Oct 9, 2014 8:43 PM

We all love a happy ending and a big success story! Congratulations. Now you can see why some of us love them so much.

I love that color. The noid red that I received from a vendor was really prolific in blooms and a lovely deep color. Started dark then lightened up a bit. Only about 18-24" tall with 3" flowers. It produced some nice looking tubers but won't know til spring how many make it through. If you are interested in a few tubers, send me a Dmail with name and address and I will put it on my wall.

alright. HELP I have 2 surviving dahlia tubers in a pot, they have not come back up, it is 100 out so too hot for winter type storage. I toss some water on them every couple of days (pot is well drained, soil is light and drains well). If I am going to try dahlias again next year I want to start with these 2, do I need a raised bed? (I know it has to be windowscreened to keep the grasshoppers out.)

I wish someone on here could answer your question. As you can see, most of us on the forum live probably more than a thousand miles and several planting zones from Texas. Anything we said would probably just be a guess that might do more harm than good. I googled "How to grow dahlias in Texas" and there are many pages that may be helpful. They may not answer your specific question but it's a place to start. Do you have a county extension or ag office nearby? Even a garden center might be able to help. I wish I could be of more help.

thank you. I do know what killed most of mine and they were grasshoppers, lack of fertilizer was also a problem. What I can't tell from what I have found on dahlias is whether mine have gone dormant, I'm going to take a healthy guess and say yes, and package them up for winter.
And I guess I will check on local resources. They are sold here, but most are in poor condition from the store and I am in a LOT of fancy backyards and so far the only dahlias I've seen are my own, they may not do well. but I am a stubborn critter. Most of the Texas DG are smart enough to avoid dahlias? Quite possibly. I've noticed they tend to grow things that survive in Texas.