Ok, I know it's a dahlia. But here's the story. In 2001, I winter-sowed the seeds for this. Summer of 2002, it came up but no bloom and I didn't have it identified so I didn't know what it was. It just bloomed today and we had a very cold winter. Once it got to zero degrees. How in the world did this make it through the winter? And it didn't have a lot of mulch either.
mine all made it too vic.
I've got a bunch of dahlia's this year. I'm wondering if I should keep them in the ground? It gets pretty cold up here in the mountains. I'm just flabbergasted. I had no idea they would make it through a winter in this climate...
I'm in zone 7 and mine come back every year. They also had very little mulch.
vic the person to ask is Lenjo (Joann) - she grows hundreds of them!! Beautiful photo - love the camera!! :-)
Vic, due to the problems with my mother, I didn't dig mine last year and most are up and running. I also didn't get around to dig the glads, cannas, nor a few calla lillies and they all seem to be doing fine. We're just a tad colder here than you are in R.
Guess I can knock that one off my Autumn to do list LOL
Well, I'm NOT guaranteeing that leaving them in the ground is okay, but after this past winter's experience with mine, I'll probably leave it off my fall to-do list also, LOL.
Same here. A few that I missed last November are up and running also. I'm leaving them all in this year. :-D
I've always left mine in the ground, they always come back bigger and better!
I think it depends on the cultivar. Don't quote me on this but the bigger the flower I believe, the less hardy. vic, you are on the border of hardiness in N.C. Back home in England they are all mostly lifted and stored for next year. Here's a few of the cultivars that are available.
http://www.bulb.com/summerguide98/dahlia.asp
Hey thanks Margaret! What would I do without you! Love ya!
Vic, I too have left my dahlias in the ground, and they get bigger. I have a dinnerplate dahlia that i have divided at least 5 times, and it is still a beauty....
Good luck with yours.
The biggest reason we dig our tubers is not so much freeze but rot, we get so much rain here that the tubers rot before they freeze. When you cut the stalk off they say to either cut them very low below soil level or plug that empty stalk somehow as that just acts as a siphon for the water to go down into the tubers.
I haven't grown dahlias because I didn't want to have to dig them in the fall, now I wonder if I should just go for it, mulch them in the fall and hope for the best. My climate is dryer than Lenjo's, we usually don't get fall rains, just freezing and then snow, so maybe they would be ok. Hmmmmm......
Oooh, I haven't grown dahlias since I moved to Texas, for no particular reason, but this one is just irresistible. I know Granddarling would talk me out of it after one season, but I could still enjoy it. Yes, I must put it on my list, so you can see all the trouble you have caused with your beautiful flower. Consider yourself envied.
Lenjo, what a great tip for saving the tubers from rot! Thanks.
Would it be ok to leave the flower stalk on the plant and cut it off in the spring when new growth starts to show? We have a lot of winter wind so leaving the stalks would help hold the snow in place for insulation, and also remind me that something is planted there. Winter usually catches me before I'm ready for it to be here.
Here's another bulb that shouldn't have survived the winter... 2 different colors of calla lily.
Oh Darius, those are beautiful. Peggy has beautiful cala lilies too but she has to bring hers in. Heck, I'm a zone warmer than you so maybe I will try this. Thanks for the info!
I have heard of people bending the flower stalks over and using a rubber band to keep them that way. It stop the water from going down into the heart of the bulb, tuber, whatever. Of course, you should still mulch pretty heavily.
