Hello dedicated gardeners! In my Zone 5 garden, the dahlias tell me when it’s time to give it up for the growing season. If you have checked out Buzz Miller’s Facebook page you saw the beautiful bloom from my “Giraffe” dahlia I bought from Willow Creek gardens (www.WillowCreekGardens.com). Take a look at their stuff. They offer beautiful bulbs, and are great to deal with. If you haven’t seen Buzz Miller’s page, do me a favor and take a look. If you “like” it, she’ll think she has friends….
Let me tell you a little story about this dahlia. I ordered these dahlias and they arrived in pretty tough shape. I took a picture and emailed it to customer service. Kathleen McCarthy wrote back immediately, and with no muss, fuss, or argument, sent me new ones in a matter of days. This bloom is on a first year plant. They were prolific bloomers, the first dahlias to bloom (I had eight varieties in this area), and the next to the last to fade. They were wonderful! I can absolutely recommend Willow Creek Gardens, and I look forward to ordering from them again.
Back to the subject at hand, your dahlias will fade and start to darken-usually after a couple light frosts, and definitely after the first scrape-the-stuff-off-your-windshield frost, so keep watch. The buds turn black, the stems fall over and get kind-of mushy in places. In the picture on the right, you can see the blackened bloom. I stood the stems against another plant, but they have already fallen over, and they are ready to dig.
Be sure to give the stem a wide berth-the dahlia bulb has fleshy lobes that grow outward from the stem. Though they are not far from the surface, the lobes can grow six inches or more from the stem.
Sink the shovel into the soil and gently lift the plant. You can see how the lobes fan out from the stem. Be sure not to break these off. The lobes are delicate, and can easily break.
I use a hose to get the majority of the dirt off my bulbs. If you put your bulbs-any bulbs-to bed with the dirt still attached, you run the risk of putting any critters crawling in and out of the dirt to bed with them. Just think! A nice warm cozy winter home with as much to eat as you can hold, and conditions perfect to reproduce and allow future generations of bugs to feast on your stored bulbs!
The last step we will cover today is bringing the bulbs down to the laundry tub and finishing the cleaning process. Once your bulbs are clean, place them in a place to dry which has good air circulation in and around them. I use my little indoor green house where I sprout everything in the Spring. I peel back the plastic and dry my bulbs on the wire rack. I leave the greens attached for the time being for two reasons. One, to keep my smaller bulbs from falling through the wire, and two, so I can identify them later. I also place a tag on them to identify the name of each dahlia.
Stay tuned for the next installment of Petal Pushers-the continuing saga of putting your dahlias to bed!
Happy Gardening!
