Hi I'm a Duke fan so will give you my very best advice. Dig them, wash them off and store in a cool place. Steve S.

You can let them stay in the ground for most winters. If you have a bad one you may lose some of them. Make sure you put about 6-8 inches of pine straw, leaves...some kind of mulch over them. Cut the tops off after the first frost and you can place a cap on the cut stems so water won't get down into the crown as that is where the eyes for next year are located. This can be aluminum foil with a rubber band to keep it tight.

My father grew dahlias in Raleigh and he never had a problem keeping them in the ground during the winter. If you are a small grower it is easier to keep them in the ground than try and keep them from shriveling inside.

I had dahlias in the ground here in Atlanta back in the 80's and the temp got down to -8 degrees and I only lost about half of them.

Check out the dahlia growing guide for Southern gardens on the Georgia Dahlia Society website under DAHLIAS THAT GROW WELL IN THE SOUTH page.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dahlia Society of Georgia

I love posts like this. Commercial sellers of dahlias are quite willing to sell you new tubers for next year if something goes wrong. Actually, if you compare the time and effort of digging and dividing in the Fall and then finding good storage material and then an area to store them frost free, you have expended a lot of time and effort. Consider covering them with lots of leaves and mulch and if you lose some, buy new ones. You will enjoy seeing some of the newer varieties in your garden.

I think I'd start a nice compost pile right over the buried tubers. That would keep it warm enough. In the spring, just move the compost.

I wish I lived in a place where I could try leaving them in the ground. Digging, dividing and storing is a lot of work!

Usually I can leave mine in the ground. We had a pretty harsh winter here in WNC last winter. I Lost ALL of my tubers!

Tonight, I'm listening to the rain pouring down on my roof, and know that it's seeping into the ground where my tubers lay up until just a few days ago. The tubers still looked good when I dug them up, and hopefully, I'll keep a lot more than last year (when I lost most.) At least come early next year, with a review of my boxes, I will know what "garden must haves" that I "don't have." In prior rainy springs, there was no opportunity for a casual inventory. And by the time I got all my tubers dug in the spring, either my favorite varieties were sold out, or growers that carried my favorites had closed down for the year. I'm feeling pretty good about the storing decision this year, even though it's a lot of work. Now, I just have to keep an eye on them . . .