I dig mine up and store them in trays with newspaper in the garage. Nearly all of them survive. What I’ve never done is wash the tubers as some authorities (MD too, I think) advise. Surely that would only encourage rot?
I think it is more to do with your soil conditions, than on where you are geographically. Christo Lloyd was in sunny Sussex, but said if he did not lift Dahlias, they never reappeared.
How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team
At Biddulph Grange in Staffordshire this afternoon we saw lots of volenteers taking up their very precious Dahlia tubers and getting ready to wash and store them. They were very busy. I did get an idea of what they were doing to store them. (It is very near where I live.)
So interesting to hear all your experiences, thank you all! My soil, for the record, is very free draining because the beds are all new (we took over and abandoned house and garden a few months ago). I made sure we dug very deep into the clay, adding much grit and well rotted mix of soil and manure. Then mulched deeply around all the new plants. I even have an olive tree in there, which is thriving like it never did in a pot. I’ll probably leave the dahlia I want to keep in its current position, in the ground, but lift the triffid like one that has swamped much of the surrounding plants and store it, to replant next year. When is the best time to replant them then, I wonder?
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Christo Lloyd was in sunny Sussex, but said if he did not lift Dahlias, they never reappeared.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
It's also the length of time that ground stays cold and wet - something many people forget too.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
They were very busy. I did get an idea of what they were doing to store them. (It is very near where I live.)
'You must have some bread with it me duck!'
My soil, for the record, is very free draining because the beds are all new (we took over and abandoned house and garden a few months ago).
I made sure we dug very deep into the clay, adding much grit and well rotted mix of soil and manure. Then mulched deeply around all the new plants.
I even have an olive tree in there, which is thriving like it never did in a pot.
I’ll probably leave the dahlia I want to keep in its current position, in the ground, but lift the triffid like one that has swamped much of the surrounding plants and store it, to replant next year.
When is the best time to replant them then, I wonder?
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Also meant to pick your brains about white hydrangea, as I seem to remember that you grow them.
🙏🏻