This is my first experience with Dahlias, and am not sure if I should dig them up or leave them in the ground. I planted them rather late this year, but they are huge and still growing, full of buds ( I will post when they open!) They are really loving the recent rains, and so am I, not having to drag that hose all over the yard. I considered posting in the Dahlia forum, but figured I would start with folks in my zone first. Thanks!
Susan
How to overwinter Dahlias in Georgia?
Susan, I was late planting also (first week in June) and have been getting lots of flowers. Not sure what zone you're in ........I'm in 8b and will leave the tubers in ground here......they're well mulched. A few pics to follow. Being new to them it is sort of intimidating to show mine to the experts in the dahlia forum.
Sharon
Here is "Hissy Fitz"
"Sean C"
"Leo Jelito"
And last........"Karras". There are a few others that haven't opened yet.
Oooh, Bugme, those are so lovely! According to the zone map, I am sittin' right on the 7B-8A line. I want to start a new bed and have Dahlias in the middle (it's one that will be viewed from all sides). The few I planted early in the season did poorly, but the new ones I planted in late June are doing very well and I can't wait for them to bloom! I'm thinking I will move the ones that are sad to my new bed and see if they like that location better. It's a relief to know I won't have to dig and store, 'cause I don't really have a good place to store them at this point. Thanks!
The president of the GA Dahlia society leaves hs in and he lives in Norht GA.. that's what I'll be doing too.. my first year growing them :)
Susan
I think a lot of it depends on how cold a winter we get. We haven't seen single digit weather in years (20+?) so I think you're safe. My dad left his in the ground in middle TN for years with no problems - then they had one really cold winter which apparently killed them all (10 to 12 different ones).
Yes... last winter was quite mild.. I have jackets and sweaters that have never seen the light of day. I have to remember than when I'm tempted to buy winter wear.
Susan
Glad to see this here. I have some Dahlias in pots and some in the ground. Pots are pretty hefty sized to lug around. Think the tubers will be safe in there if I mulch the pots?
This is my first time with Dahlias and I've been very happy with them. Still dealing with powdery mildew, but since I'm organic I just let it go and it hasn't seemed to make them worse for the wear so far.
~Sunny
This message was edited Sep 21, 2006 8:23 PM
Sunny -
Don't know about mulching pots; someone with more experience can probably answer that. Seems like it would work. I read somewhere that diluted milk sprayed on plants worked for powdery mildew. I can't remember where I read that, but if I have a problem on my crape myrtles again next year I'm going to try it. The only problem I have had on dahlias has been snails and slugs. Yikes! they're HUGE!! Gross, too. That one in your photo is beautiful; love the color combo.
Susan
Thanks Susan,
I hit Lowe's one Sunday and got about 8 of them for 2.00 each (gardening on a budget CAN be done...LOL!)
I've been real impressed with these; the other kind I got at the same time were pale pink, but they haven't had nearly the blooms that the red/cream have. Now I just have to (ahem) find the tag for them that is buried somewhere around here in an empty pot...(grin) so I can remember what cultivar they are. I haven't seen any slugs or snails on them (maybe they are hiding?) The only place I've found slugs and snails are on the bottom of my yet-to-be-planted stuff, and the occasional board I find in the yard.
I'll give the dliuted milk at look-see on google and see what I can find for a ratio; probably can't hurt.
These were my first containers I'd ever done and I've learned quit a bit. I'm happy with them, and looking forward to trying them again next year. I did Morning Glory and Moonflower on trellises in the rear of the pot, the Dahlias in the middle, and then did sweet potato vine, lobelia (didn't live), evovulus, ferns and impatiens to fill the perimeter. Even DH liked them and mulched 5 bags just to give them a nice presentation :)
I look forward to hearing about saving the tubers overwinter in the pots; I can't seem to find seeds on the dahlias and I've looked a bunch!!
~Sunny
I am on the 7b 8a line too and have both dug up the dahlias and left them in....I think digging them up is recommended but it has given me the worst results. I usually put them in the ground in April and they are usually great but this year they have not been too lovely. I think it has just been too hot...I am finally getting some noce flowers now.
They are my favorites though!
I bought some lovely pink Dahlias in pots at half-price from Wal-Mart a couple of days ago - scruffy looking plants but still blooming a bit so I could see the colors. The lady at the cash register gave me one for free.
"Cause they dead" she told me.
I said "No - they're dalhias."
"Hmmpf" she said "well then, they dead dahlias!"
I kept my laughter to myself. The one I got for free was a really big pot! The very brown and dried blossoms on that plant had tons of seeds, which I have scattered. I've got a big plastic box and perlite I use to store tubers, but after reading all these postings, I am tempted to put them in the ground.
lol Sterhill, too funny. What did the seeds look like? I can't seem to find any on mine :(
~Sunny
Sterhill, there is a walmart on every corner it seems over here. I tried to get a discount on some half dead hydrangeas and they wanted full price. The one nearest my house has an almost empty garden section. Another has a great plant selection no matter the season, even had petunias yesterday. Even HD and Lowe's mark down their hald dead stock.
Any ideas why my Babylon Pink tubers didn't even come up this year???? I had about 6 :( A Carolina Orange from walmart is still blooming.
Susan
LOL - the so called "garden center" at our WM in Thomson has become the Halloween spooky center since the 1st of Sept. Hardly a viable plant in the place, but I think they must throw away the dead and dying 'cause I never find any bargains here. It's such a shame. I was in there a few weeks ago and a lady had a potted mum and she was looking at it like it was something from outer space. I smiled at her and she said "I'm supposed to get some flowers for Church tomorrow and this is all they've got???!!! It was pretty pitiful. Wish I had the money to start a retail garden center here.
Susan.. are you talking to the managers or the salesfolks?? Mangers at Wal-mart will work a deal to move it out if they want to make a deal.. they can.
Susan
Hineni - the seeds come from really dried up flower heads, left on the plant while drying out. I doubt most of us would leave the flowers on the plants that long but Wal-Mart sure did. The brown, dried up flower has many seeds in it, papery looking about 3/8" long. I raised some Bishop's Children from seed (under lights in the winter) and they bloomed the first year... I did not pull the tubers and they did NOT come back. But it was in an area in my front where the cold wind sweeps over.
Hmmm - I think I'll keep the tubers for these pink lovelies in the garage over the winter.
Sterling
Hmmm, I have some in pots in the front, but others in the ground in back. I may let the ones in the back go to seed then, as someone was wanting some of my dahlias from seed and I didn't think they made them (duh, but I'm new to gardening so please cut me some slack...lol!) I really like that 'Sean C' that bugme put a pic of up there - bugme where did you buy that one? I'm finding my flower tastes really run to single or maybe double layered petal types like Cosmos, Zinnias, Duranta, Datura and Columbines (not that I have any of those yet, only seeds for next year!) - but those are the ones that appeal to me in most people's gardens that I see.
Sterhill, how long is 'long' do you think? I'm still trying to learn when flowers are past prettiness but are not yet to 'setting seed' stage and trying to learn to be patient. Many times I've thought I had seed but what I really had was chaff :( The hardest plants to determine this on for me are the salvia/sage family. Every time I think they are at the seeding stage all I find are empy calyxes - same with agastache and buddleia. I finally cut a long spire of my salvia and put it in a paper bag while the top segment was still in flower, hoping for some seed for next year. I sure hope I cut it at the right time for once!
Thanks for ya'lls help, the experienced gardeners here at DG have been such a blessing!
~Sunny
Will leave my Blue Angel in the ground after reading this thread. Saving seeds too. Thanks for all the good info,, Elaine
It was a bargain buy last year.. at Lowe's.. 50% off. I really like 75% off... :))))
This message was edited Oct 14, 2006 8:16 PM
Hmmm, I'm thinking after I get all my daylilies and spring bulbs planted and all my others things divided and/or moved, I'm gonna have to visit the Lowes in Augusta for some bargain plants.
One of our Lowe's has better "bargains" than the other. Think it has something to do with Garden Manager. Elaine
Hineni - I wish I had a picture of the flower head gone to seed so you could see it! Think very dark brown, very dry flower head - no color left, petals all gone or really dried up so it's just a dark ball at the end of the stalk. When you break that ball open, there are seeds inside.
I do not remember ever having these really dried up flowers on my plants - I usually deadhead to get more blooms.
Sunny, the tubers I got were a gift from a friend in Washington.......her brother is a dahlia supplier and his link is www.dansdahlias.com. The 'Sean C' you liked so well is truly a prolific bloomer....there were as many as 20 blooms at one time on it. They are small but so perky looking. Other than the initial planting (with potato fertilizer) and a few waterings they have been really tough plants. I'll try to get another pic today to show how many are still in bloom.
I plan to leave my tubers in ground this winter. I've read that you need to cover any remaining stems with aluminum foil to keep water out of the tubers. They will be covered with weed cloth and mulch and I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Sharon
Oh Elaine, what a pretty shade of pink on your dahlia!
Thanks Sterhill. Definitely a project for the back ones then - there are more weeds than plants back there anyway, so I'll let the red/cream one look straggly if I can bear it and see if I can get some seeds from mine. I have Clematis back there too, which I've got to read up on how to overwinter - pretty much I think everything is just going to need to be mulched well and ignored.
Thanks for the tip on the stems Sharon, I hadn't thought about that at all (duh!) I'll check out that place you linked to for that Sean C.-it reminds me of a Columbine for some reason!
~Sunny
Here are a few pics of the bed, just half of it.......the buddlei looks to be on steroids...........LOL and I do cut it back every year. The lovely yellow one beneath it is 'Leo Jelito' and I'll post a closeup.......
Here is Leo up close and personal
'Hillcrest Royal'
I just realized Leo's pic had been shown early on........oh well, still a pretty one. These have become one of my favorites to grow since they are so hardy and beautiful. Others have shown some real beauties like the pink one Elaine showed above. I believe in another thread Farmer Pickle showed a bi color that is stunning and it will be on the "gotta have" list next.
Wow, nice beds Sharon - maybe one day mine will be that tidy and formal looking! The yellow on that Leo is just such a pure color, simple and stunning. There must be different types of Dahlias, as some are flat petaled (like the Leo) and then sort of tubular (like your Hillcrest Royal and my no name red/cream). So much to learn, so little time!
~Sunny
Sunny, it only looks formal because all the plants are standing straight............they have no choice, being tied to the posts...........LOL. After planting the tubers we then placed weed control fabric down and the mulch was last. You're right about so much to learn. Although they are tough and hardy performers, the initial steps are critical.............a very sturdy stake, like metal fence posts!! The main trunk on some of these get HUGE. After these die back the stakes will be moved closer to the tubers. It is just so nice to still have such lovelies this late in the season.