Dale, what’s your favorite flower?

Dahlias have become one of my favorite plants. I like them because they come in many forms and so many different colors. They have a long bloom season. I grow mine from tubers, but you can also grow from seeds or cuttings. Most of mine have been gifted from friends.

In the Fall, I dig them up and store until Spring and then plant them in pots until warmer weather. I plant my tubers in the Spring after the danger of frost. I dig fresh holes and fertilize. I stake them and then when they are about a foot tall, I tie them loosely with a cotton string. You can deb ranch some of the laterals for bigger blooms. At the end of the season and frost has blackened the leaves, you can dig up the tubers and you will have multiple tubers for each plant. There are lots of ways people choose to store them over winter. I separate mine where I see an "eye" and put in plastic tubs and then cover with vermiculite.

Examples of Tubers