A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Dahlias

I'm new to any "forum" so bare with me. I'd like to keep a few Dahlias growing thru the winter and re-plant outdoors in the spring. Has anyone tried this?

I have not kept them growing through the winter, but I have stored the bulbs with some success, though the plants did not grow as large the second summer for me. I lifted the bulbs after the first frost blackened the leaves and then cleaned off all the soil. Then I cut off all the roots down to the bulbs, and washed and dried them in the sun. When completely dry, I packed them tightly in peat moss in a sealed box and stored them in a closet in my basement.

I planted them in soil in large pots in March, and kept them growing indoors until the last frost date, which for here in zone 6 is May 15th. Then they got planted outside again.

I don't know anything about dahlias but I do know for bulbs that need to be brought in for winter (dont need to do that in florida) but take sotrage basket you know the kinds that teachers would have for pencils and stuff the ones that have all the slots in the sides and its rectangular only a few bucks and when your ready to plant plant them in the container and stick it in the ground then when winter comes all you have to do is lift it out of the ground. Which I'm sure is alot easy trying to find the bulbs and not haveing to worry about slicing through them with the hand shovel!

-scott

great idea!
never had much luck overwintering dahlias here but i just left em in the ground last time and they came back. but im in st louis and i dont think global warming has made it that far north yet.