Happy Wakening of the Dahlias Festival!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODu888i14-I

I have brought them up into the warmth of the new season. Some are very sproutilicious. Some are still sleeping. I'm so excited I can't stand it.

That's a monster stalk in the making! Congratulations, dahlianut!

I love your adjectives!

Tomorrow the potting will begin now that they are at room tempurature. I did check and it looks like only lost a couple to rot. That sprout is 'Mango Sunset'. Obviously a kid keener!

I have that one coming from Ferncliff- hooooray! Lots of oranges and yellows this year, pinks and whites and a couple lavenders too LOL.

Sounds like my orders as well, Annie.

Only one more order for me to place and, no, I haven't any idea where I'll plant them all. That's the fun of gardening.

Great sprout, Dahlianut. Here's one of my decorative dahlias from Lowe's, sprouted and growing like crazy. There were 3 in the package and so far this is the only one that has sprouted.

Great gadzooks hemophobic: that's a great start on the season. I hope your other two emerge as well.

Dnut, how's the great Northern Dahlia Waking coming along?

I have the daunting task of sorting all labels from last year. No matter how I do it, it's a pain in the neck. By color or alphabetically or both, they always end up in a big mess.

Poochella: Me, too, but so far nothing in either pot. Hope the others weren't duds. They looked and felt viable when I planted them.

Angie

Dahlias waking here too! I didn't do anything to wake them, just have been keeping an eye on them and finding more waking each time I check. A few of the sprouters were looking a bit shriveled, so I potted those up. I divided tubers yesterday, and this is a great new experience for me- I usually lose so many while stored, even with dividing survivors I end up with fewer than the year before. This year most stored beautifully, and I'm getting plenty of divisions...visions of multitudes of Dahlia blooms dance in my head!

I love dahlias! I think they're one of the most underused perennials (for us here) there are. I leave mine in the ground and haven't lost any yet. Each year I try to add more. They bloom all summer and just are a beautiful addition to the garden.

Neal - how did you store them over winter?

Pirl, this makes no sense at all, but this year I was lazier about winter store than ever before! I just shook the excess soil off the tubers, let them dry, and plopped them into plastic grocery bags, loosely tied. I kept them in a crate in my plant room that stays quite cool in winter. In the past I've washed, disinfected, dried, placed them lovingly in a bed of dry peat, and stored them in the cool basement, only to lose half of them, LOL.

I always did it as you did last year though I did hose them off and most came through just fine. This time around I went to extremes and don't care to do that again. I'll return to the grocery bags. Thanks, Neal.