jqpublic I live in kannapolis which is south of you, they should be fine add a little more mulch in the fall. At least that is what I do.

I don't want to steal your thread, but I think we have the same question. I think Dahlias are absolutely beautiful and I've often felt like planting gazillions of them, but I don't because I don't want to have to dig them up and store them for the winter. In my heart, I don't think I'd have the time to dig them up, I'd probably forget about them and digging here is like digging in cement, and I just don't have the heart to plant bulbs twice a year.

But, reading the above makes me think, that if I protected them, I wouldn't have to dig the dahlias up? Is that correct for the Raleigh area?? I live in Clayton. What about Calla Lillies?

Sorry I guess I am globbing on to your thread JQPublic . . .

My husband's grandmother didn't dig hers up and they were OK. She lived in Wake County near the airport.

I planted some last year in plastic pots with the bottoms cut out to protect them from voles -- I saw some foliage emerging before the freeze, but it's still early to tell how many made it.

I usually get about 50% return, but I don't do anything special to protect them. Last year I lost some in the summer to disease. I'm going to try again this year in *well* drained soil. I think avoiding wet soil in the winter may help survival as well.

callas come back without much problem at all. they like moist soil.

OOOOOHHHH!! You've just opened up my gardening repetoire!! Now I can plant some bulbs that I never thought possible, due to my lack of time and patience with digging in cement. Thank you so much.

thanks everyone! yeh callas are already coming back in my yard. 1 is about 5" out of the ground like a spear.

some come back. i helps to heap dry leaves over them in the winter, and to not cut them back until spring.

I had a friend in Portland, OR who had the most beautiful dalias and she never dug them up. She told me the secret was to keep the water out of the hollow stalks that stick out of the soil. She molded aluminium foil over the cut ends (after freeze killed the tops) and mulched. She had gorgeous dalias every summer. Winters there were much like here, but longer, wetter and darker. (I guess that is not at all like a NC winter after all....)

I am halfway between Clayton and Smithfield and never dig up my dahlias, ameryllis lilies, callas, ect. They all come back with no problem and I have them in several different garden settings. I started the dahlias from seed so they are not the large dinnerplate dahlias but grow about 18" and bloom from early summer right on to frost. They are one of my work horse plants....

Lynne

is it better to split my dalias before winter storage or in the spring when planting

Speaking of hollow stalks with water in them, I was examining some neat pitcher plants that are in a raised bed at Post's nursery today, and they were full of water and, of course, bugs! Mostly ants, but also a moth. The ants were swimming around, probably oblivious to just how much trouble they were in.

The dahlia that I have planted in a pot with the bottom cut out came back beautifully -- it's HUGE, and absolutely covered in blooms. It came from a fellow GardenWebber who was giving away extra dahlia tubers.

The other dahlias I have I grew from seed that I received in a trade from Canada. The parent was labelled a tall mauve, but the seedlings came in every color of the rainbow. I was surprised to see them bloom their first year. My favorite is a pink suffused with yellow that I really hope comes back next year.

They can stay in the ground all winter in the Raleigh area. The foliage emerges around late April. Once it really warms up they roar out of the ground.

Voles eat most of my tubers over the winter so I plant them in pots and sink the pots in the ground. It kinda works but isn't perfect.

One of my favorites is also one that I started from seed years ago. It stays short, has pretty big flowers in solid white. Bloomed its first year from seed also.

Harley, I have little experience, but I would think that waiting until spring would let you see what pieces looked healthy and which didn't, so you would be very clear on where to cut.