Dahlias: Looking forward to spring - Part II

I checked the tubers again today. Not much change from last time. A few more are slightly shriveled and I threw away a few that I didn't think would last till spring. I know I'll have to replace a few of my favorites. What else is new. lol

I'll be putting two orders in the mailbox tomorrow. I don't like ordering this early but with all those I'm seeing that are sold out, I figured I'd better get it in gear before it's too late. I'm sure this won't be the last ordering I do. Especially when K. Van Bourgondien runs their usual 5 for $10.88 sale.

When I checked the tubers, I found the ones that looked the best were the few I put in plastic bags unwashed with no media. The next best were ones in bags with peat moss. I've always felt that peat was more drying than coarse vermiculite when I've used it in the past. I may have to change my opinion of that come spring.

I used slightly dampened peat and then adjusted, leaving bags open, shaking them up to redistribute more moist sections, or closing the bags if shriveling indicated dessication. Obviously the ambient temperature and humidity affects this. So one size definitely does not fit all. We are looking to perhaps move out of our house this year to a larger parcel in the valley, that would accommodate a root cellar which would change the entire game plan with dahlias.

That might be nice for winter dahlia storage Mary.

Careful, Mary! With more space you could become dangerous. lol You might even surpass Tod's 650 plants. I sometime wish I had more room. But thinking about the extra work of tending to more plants than I already have snaps me back to reality. I love the idea of a root cellar. My grandparents had one and it seemed the vegetables stored there lasted forever. My only options for storage are an unheated tool shed or the corner of the attic. The shed is obviously out of the question. The attic is probably mid 50's and has served me well until the past couple years. No idea what has changed. After reading that many vendors have some problems, I suppose my 10-15% losses to shriveling might not be the end of the world.

The attic should work fine as long as you don't put them by that open vent again. lol. No I think I could resist expanding my dahlias. I was thinking more in terms of vegetables and fruit. I would love to have raspberry bushes but they are so darned invasive you have to put them where you can just mow the suckers (literally and figuratively) down to control them. The biggest problem would be moose, rabbits, etc. But I am willing to put in electrical fences above and below ground to protect me gardens. Oh also more fruit trees. I have one apple tree about three years old that produces about 16 apples, or it did last year. A few more each year.

Anyway, who knows if it will happen. Part of the plan is to bring my MIL down from Fairbanks to live with us. Either in a MIL apartment, or just build her a little 1200 foot home of her on on the property. We ALL three need our space and alone time.

No, I won't be using that area of the attic again. lol But really, after giving it more thought, I now believe the problem was that in my haste to get them put away, I didn't let them dry enough after dividing. That was the only time I've ever had any rot. With all the insulation I don't believe there's any way the temp could go low enough to freeze even with a small open vent. I usually wear a light jacket or sweatshirt when I go up there and I've never really gotten all that cold.

I ordered two Ben Huston tubers. Even though I had several plants this year, I think that may be one of the varieties that don't store well. Many of mine are showing some shriveling and I'd hate to be left without any this year. They were only $3.00 each. So it's not a problem if I end up with too many. lol

the least expensive I ordered was from Alan Lowe, all others ran on average 7.00 +/- 2.00

I think this year I will try to send extra tubers to the Seattle Dahlia Society annual tuber sale. They sent labels to write on and attached to each zip lock bag. Sounds like a worthy use for extra tubers.

Well, I didn't order any dahlias yet but I did order 17 more knobs to decorate my copper stakes. At least it's a start. I'll get to the dahlias as the snow flies tomorrow - AM and PM, so thrilling.

Mimimal shriveling on some tubers, but mostly looking good.

Hurray! Seems most of us have done better than the suppliers.

I found a few more shriveled tubers last time I checked and the ones stored in peat moss or a mixture of peat moss and potting soil looked the best. I mixed a batch of 75% peat and 25% potting soil and put it in the bags that had only vermiculite. I'm beginning to think that the vermiculite is more drying than peat. I gave them a light spray of water and sealed the zip-loc about 1/3 closed. I hope to retain a tiny bit of moisture this way. I'll check more often since I don't want to go from worrying about shriveling to worrying about rot. It's been so cold and dry during this spell of global warming that it's no wonder the tubers are shriveling.

We are currently at 2 degrees headed for below zero temps tonight with wind gusts of up to 50 mph. They're only calling for a high of 3 tomorrow and 7 below tomorrow night. I tried to raise my spirit by ordering tubers from two more vendors yesterday. Still, it's hard to get excited about gardening when you look out the window and see the frozen tundra. When it's too cold to go ice fishing, you know you've got problems. lol

More shriveled tubers gives you more opportunities to buy new dahlias. Maybe by next year you'll know the exact mixture that the dahlias want. The more I read about how suppliers store them, the more I seem to notice the "drying upside down time". It's two weeks for one place.

This spell of global warming has me stuck in the house even though our driveway, and the walk through the courtyard, was done by 7 AM - lucky guys! The wind is positively howling with gusts to 60 MPH and it reminds me of the white-out we faced leaving the Grand Canyon 10 years ago as buses were still arriving, loaded with tourists.

For the first time (for me) the weather report on radio said, "Temperature is a wind chill of one, and will be falling throughout the day". Thrilling.

The big meeting on global warming, that was supposed to be held at Yale, had to be cancelled due to snow. It cheers my heart.

We had our monsoons last week. Must have moved south. We are back in the 20's and 30's so maybe there is hope that after you survive this week it will start warming up.

Damien says that every year, they have the global warming meeting, attended by Al Gore of of course and every year it gets hit with a big storm. Warms his heart. No pun intended. lol

I will go down and check the dahlias today and may bring up the pot of peonies. I am running out of places to put pots in the house. Well, anyplace near a bright light source. My daffy's are taking off as are the lilies. I think I mentioned that I dug up some small bulbs and also small pieces that had broken off. Then I stuck them in dirt. Well, they are all growing.

Oh. I am so exctied. Mike over at ATP sent me daylily seeds and I followed the instructions about soaking then planted in soil. My first one stuck its little head up. I am thrilled. Have three named kinds as well as a 'mixed bag' (literally) of seeds. They haven't sent out any little shoots in the bags of water yet. Just the named ones. Also planted some Siberian iris seeds I was sent, along with columbine and some odd seeds I ordered like Trillium and Allium. There are more flats and pots of dirt in the garage refrigerator than bottles of wine. :)

After the winter of 2014 I felt all future winter weather would be tolerable. Wow, was I ever wrong!

Yes, Gore always gets the winter storms. Might be better planning to have the meeting in May.

Good luck with your dahlia checking, Mary. I only did it once, as I sat on the carpeting of the garage floor. That won't happen any time soon with the temperatures we have.

It's so exciting to raise daylilies from seed. Jack planted over 3,000 during the years I hybridized them and it was such fun to see the results.

Good heavens. And we goggle at the number of Todd's dahlias. 3000. What did you do with them all. I'm not really into hybridizing. Not patient enough I guess. I just want pretty flowers and God knows there are enough of those around to never have the same one twice. But reading the forums at ATP regarding lilies, iris, day lilies, it's obvious that there are some very dedicated and very patient gardeners out there.

Out of the 3,000 I planted around 2,000 and then ended up giving many of them away once the deer arrived in 2009 because I couldn't take the heartbreak of seeing the buds all over the ground as (I guess) the deer didn't like the flavor of many of them. It didn't stop them from doing the same thing night after night.

It was great fun at the time and some of the results were too nice to give up so we still have a few hundred of them.

That's neat. To know that no one else has your special day lilies. Makes you garden unique.

So many people think of daylilies as red or yellow so they're even shocked to see lavender or eyed, edges of gold, etc.

The seeds I was sent my HazelcrestMike (I sent him blue poppy plants a year or so ago) are really pretty. Cajun Sunrise, Victorian Lace, St. Francis of Assisi, and he also sent a mixed Sears Tower. Victorian Lace is not sending out little roots in the water packets and I am beginning to think I should just plant them in soil kept moist anyway. I would love the make a new bed in the front yard just for the daylilies. Well, with some other things so I have some contrast. What would you suggest?

Hi everyone! I have been lurking and trying to keep up with what is going on here. I am so ready for Spring but Mother Nature is really not cooperating. It is snowing hard here, and the snow is really piling up outside. We are at 7 inches and still falling. At some point I may have to go knock the snow off the roof of he greenhouse. Not looking forward to that cause it is 12* outside with a windchill of -11*. Brrrrrr! So I am working from home today, brought my paperwork with me in anticipation of the snow storm. I have enjoyed reading what all of you are up to. I am getting ready to plant some Daylily seed, I have never started them from seed before. Thought I would give it a try. Stay warm everybody!

I have Victorian Lace and Francis of Assisi. I also have raised many seeds that were crosses of very popular crosses, which were sent to me as a gift.

For the seeds that won't sprout you could try some barely moist potting mix in a plastic sandwich bag (left somewhat open) and watch them grow. Some seeds seem eager to grow while others don't.

A bed of blooming daylilies is lovely but then comes the down-time. The old leaves look more and more dreadful so I cut them back hard (see collage) and they get all new leaves in two weeks. You might want to put the daylilies in the center with annuals (or dahlias) at the edges so you'll always have interest there.

Hi Nanny! I took so long to post that we overlapped. I had to go outside and make a path through the lawn (covered with more than a foot of very icy snow) for the oil man to make a delivery. I fell on the icy snow and had a very rough time getting up since my hands couldn't get a grip on the snow. Scary! I will never do it again.

Be ultra careful with the greenhouse!

We're due for more snow tonight and more tomorrow. I will celebrate when the last of the snow is gone!

You can start those daylily seeds in pots with Saran Wrap type covering them until they germinate. It's so much fun to chart their progress and eventually see the blooms, though it can take two to three years.

Thanks for the tips on sprouting the Daylilies and I will be careful going out to the greenhouse! Pirl, I hope you are ok! I will be glad to be this snow outta here for sure. And the frigid temps right along with it.

As I struggled to get upright I kept thinking I'd die there, in the snow and with the 16.9 (feels like 2 degrees), without a bloom in sight! Now that was frightening!

What a horrible thought! I hope you are OK and don't go out again by yourself! So glad you made it back into the house, that sounds really scary! It is too cold for that stuff, Pirl!

Thanks for your concern. It was dying without a bloom in sight that was so horrifying so I came back inside and watered all my coleuses and houseplants. It's good to see color again after being surrounded by too much white!

Jeez, Arlene. Take it easy. That is terrifying. I fell in my pond one winter and while I could stand up with water to my chest (I am 5'2") my clothes were soaking wet and I thought if I couldn't climb out, I also would just die of hypothermia in my pond. That frightened me enough to heave up the rock and climb out and trudge back to the house. You should carry one of those alert things just in case in winter at least.

I cut and pasted a good article on germinating seeds and used the 1 tb hyd-perox to 4 cups water in a small zip lock with the seeds. Took about two weeks for them to break dormancy, or at least starting. I just found that Victorian Lace, at least one seed, has broken dormancy so into a pot of soil it went and under lights 2" above pot. Others I put in soil a weeks ago are popping up. Really makes me happy as I have never planted day lily seeds either.

Will it take 2-3 years for flowers Arlene?

Oh, and Nanny, I have my note about sending you some dahlia tubers this spring when I see who has survived. Haven't forgotten.

Arlene, do you think those little border dahlias would work with the daylilies. They are short and bloom continually. What about some tall lilies in the back as they won't bloom til mid-July. Or may be some ajuga in a spot or two in front. I have some really dark foliage ones with bright blue spires that bloom like crazy. Have to keep cutting the runners back to control it but it isn't too difficult.

Thanks Mary! I appreciate you remembering me! I am impatiently waiting for this snow to quit but It has been snowing hard for 12 hrs continuously. we are at 9-10 inches of snow since this morning. I guess we are getting a little taste of what the Northeast has been experiencing. Only we aren't quite used to dealing with this much snow.
I can't wait for Spring!!!! You ladies be careful outside! My mother scares me about that, I am afraid she might fall outside, and not be able to get up. She lives alone and in a fairly rural area, so I know what you mean.

Being in cold water up to the chest would have me terrified but it is that survival mode that sets in and gets us moving. I will not do it again.

None of mine bloomed the first year, Mary and only one small yellow one the second year. It was year three when most bloomed and I was so thrilled.

Oh, Nanny! You are getting a taste of what it's been like here. Your mom has to be careful for her own sake as well as for your peace of mind.

Okay. I may just put them in pots to set out each year then into the basement for the winter. I could water just a little as I do my geraniums and iris in pots. Would that work. Until they were big enough to plant outside and not lose.

They probably won't like being cramped into pots. Plant them out and let Mother Nature take care of them but mulch them well.

Hey! Anyone else ready to run outside and plant some dahlia tubers? Okay, maybe I'll wait a few more days. OMG? Is this ever going to end? I can't remember a year with this much cold weather. Yesterday morning we were at a balmy minus nine. A friend who lives about 8 miles south of here had 22 below. A lot of records being set but not the kind of records you're proud of. Forecast says single digits most of this week with three nights below zero. They're forecasting a high of around 30 for Saturday. I'll have to go find my suntan lotion.

Arlene, stay inside! If you have to go out carry a cell phone. I've put down a lot of ice melt but just as soon as it thaws, it re-freezes and probably makes it worse.

I've ordered tubers from five vendors, so I think I'm through for the time being.

I feel so badly for you two. Your weather is horrid. We are sitting above zero and stuff is melting. Nuts. Just hoping to doesn't give us one or two late blasts. If it does, probably won't be cold just a ton of snow. Not a bad thing allowing for uncertain spring weather. No way do I take this to mean a wonderful warm spring.

I planted all my early flower seeds. Some I had to scratch with a finger nail file. Held the tiny seed (barely) with tweezers and used a nail file. The seeds lay on top of the soil, moisten, cover with saran. Two germinated in two days. Wow. But I lifted the saran and I think it only took that much loss of humidity to kill off one. I won't do that again. I guess they need time to germinate then send down roots. They need light to germinate. The other seeds are going to take much longer.

Maybe tomorrow I will check dahlias. Watered my geraniums then gave up and moved them back into the house. They were struggling to turn green by the one bank of lights above them 2" over the seedlings (Iris). I will have daffys, and crocus in at the most another month (unheard of - indoors). And lilies that will bloom maybe even before the snow is gone. Again indoors. Begonias doing fine, their usual sllooowwww growth. I feel like I have already started the season. First of March some slow vegie seeds will get planted.

psudan, our weather is about like yours as far as temps go. we could get 3-4 more inches of snow tonight on top of what we already have, 12+ inches. But the sub-zero temps are what's really bad. Dangerous even. Stay safe and warm everyone. This is a great time to curl up with the catalogs.
Mary this is VERY unusual weather for us, so we aren't dealing with it very well. It doesn't look like it is going to end for a while. The good news is my neighbor came and plowed my drive way and I can get out if I have too.

The sun is shining. That concludes the good weather news for today. It's frigid again as it's been for too long now. This is the worst February I can recall. We're due for 36 on Saturday (with snow) and 40 (with rain) for Sunday. Thrilling!

The back kitchen steps look like a hill meant for sleighs for the small children. There isn't any sign of where the steps are.

No cell phones here, Dan, so I just won't be walking in the snow. It's not as though we got a discount from the oil guy for trying to make a path for him!

I've also ordered dahlias from five places but this year the shipping is much less than last year so I've done well.

Mary - it's fun to raise seeds and grow plants during February! Next time don't remove the plastic wrap but poke a tiny hole or two (with a needle) to get the seedlings used to less humidity. Our coleus plants are doing so well and brighten up the kitchen so much. The begonias are very happy but the amaryllises are still just green leaves because I neglected to put them to sleep in August. I should be rewarded with summer blooms.

Keep that sunscreen handy, Dan. You may need it in six more months.

Bless your neighbor, Nanny!

Seeing the many roofs collapsing on TV new broadcasts is too scary.

I will hold warm thought for you all. Especially if you are not used to the prolonged cold and snow. It is a fact of life up here, just as our present weather is somewhat strange. Can't complain. It's 27 now and headed toward 40 if the sun shines. Roads are clear and drying up, even our driveway which is black asphalt. Tricky for me are the spots that still have some ice. I fell badly a few years ago and am still fearful of falling again. I am sure I look pretty stupid as I intently place each foot down carefully on any spot that looks safe for my feet. lol

Thanks for the idea about the saran. When I was propagating dahlias in clear plastic glasses I would tilt the top glass slightly when it was time to harden them off to outside air. If they showed any sign of wilting I would just close it up again. Then tilt later. Took a few days and they were fine with no top.

The winds were as bad as the feels-like zero temperatures. In 2012 I was out gardening all winter so it's quite a contrast.

Do be very careful with those icy spots. The older we all get, the more the fear of falling becomes more serious.

It does take about a week to get any plants hardened off but it's well worth it.

Mary never stupid to be safe. Everyone here does the penguin shuffle when it is icy out. If you think you are going to walk normally you will end up on your kiester.

Gary