Looks as though you're succeeding !

Any special care to overwinter in Deep South?

Everything I have read says Dahlias and South Florida don't mix. The ground from my reading doesn't get cold enough in south Florida. I have mine in a raised bed and containers.

I know dahlia growers in Gainsville and Miami. Their biggest thing is rot with the winter rains, so it is important for them to dig and store before it happens, or tarped to avoid accessible moisture sitting next to the tubers.

From what I remember, the dahlias can start blooming in March, die back in the heat of June-July, and start to re-bloom Aug-November.

Dahlias don't need cold, and their native environment was Mexico... In storage, cold helps keep mold and rot at bay a bit, but it is still very possible to store successfully at higher temperatures. Using fungicides helps if your storage area is above 50 degrees.

Hope this helps!

CiCi

Just chatted with the grower in Gainsville... When he started growing dahlias in central Florida, he grew them all in large pots with an irrigation drip to keep them watered. He did very well that way, but they were cumbersome and he wanted to grow more. When he moved to Gainsville, he dedicated land to planting dahlias in rows. The last season was a success, but not so this season. He lost much of his stock this summer due to high amounts of rain and hot temperatures. Previously planting in pots allowed drainage that his current dahlia bed could not provide. Understandably, he is pretty frustrated, but such disasters are unfortunately just a part of growing dahlias, and I'm sure he'll spring back after assessing what changes he needs to make. Dahlia growers are a determined lot.

But this is not just a Florida problem (though I understand it is a common issue for fair-weathered folks). I had the same thing happen up North this season to two new beds I put in... Unprecedented amounts of rain waterlogged and rotted the roots. I added LOTS of decayed leave mulch, mixed it with the clay soil really well and made thin raised rows to plant the survivors in. This saved the remainders, but the harvest is showing me the damage of that wet early summer. I'll be adding MUCH more leaf mulch to those beds to improve drainage for next season. And if they rot again, I'll reassess and keep at improving the beds. Up with dahlias!