RE: dahlia tubers

Marge,
 I'm with you, I've never had good luck trying to get a good piece of neck
with a bud on it in the spring.  Lucky for me (since I am
 lazy and don't like to dig up big clumps of stuff to bring into the
basement) I haven't dug my Dahlias in years.  But our soil rarely
freezes.  I can only think of 2 winters in the 23 years I have lived here.
I planted my Dahlias waaayyy down there about 15 years ago and they come up
every year.  In fact, one year I decided they took up too much room in my
only sunny border, so I dug them all up and gave them away.  Hah!  I only
thought I dug them all up!  2 of them are still coming back, but I didn't
have the heart to dig them out again - they make such pretty bouquets,
either alone or mixed with other flowers.  Of course I'm not talking about
those dinner plate flowers Claire, just smaller ones - not more than 3 or 4"
across.
I have taken to planting the dark purple leafed Dahlias (Bishop of Llandaff,
Bednall Beauty & Fascination) in large pots mixed with annuals and placed
here and there in the garden.  They are much easier to deal with that way.

Thanks for the tips on increasing Dahlia stock.  For some reason it never
occurred to me to try that.  People ask me for starts of my dark leafed ones
all the time.  My question is, will the rooted shoots then form a tuber over
the growing season?

Marilyn Dube'
Natural Designs Nursery
Portland, Oregon


-----Original Message-----
From:	owner-perennials@mallorn.com [owner-perennials@mallorn.com] On
Behalf Of Marge Talt
Sent:	Saturday, November 24, 2001 4:47 PM
To:	perennials@mallorn.com
Subject:	Re: dahlia tubers

I don't know if you got an answer to this one or not, but the answer
is NO!!  Any tuber that does not have a section of stem attached is
blind and will not grow.  The ones that fall off when you dig them
are compost material.

If you want to increase your stand, the easiest way is to let them
sprout and then remove the sprouts when a few inches tall and root
them in damp sand.  They root readily and will flower for you  just
like the tubers during the growing season you rooted them in.

I've always read about dividing them, but have found that by spring
there is so little stem left it's too hard to get a split with stem
attached.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net

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