Lovely rouge! I may have asked you this before, but have you ever divided the tubers, or has it been one clump all these years?

Mine are nowhere near blooming yet!

:)

Dee

Hey Dee, I know for dahlia health one is supposed to divide them every so often but I have never done it with this particular one I have had success overwintering it in this actual container...no muss no fuss.

Interesting. I often consider just trying to overwinter my potted dahlias in the garage but always end up digging them.

I wonder how long that can live in its pot - will it get to a point where it will decline because it's too crowded? Will the tubers keep reproducing if they have limited space? rouge perhaps we should turn your dahlia into a science experiment lol! At the very least, it would be interesting to keep track and see how long it does well.

Oh, one more question - does it die back completely in the cellar? It just seems to be blooming so early, I wonder if there is some kind of "head start" by keeping it in a pot?

:)

Dee

rouge perhaps we should turn your dahlia into a science experiment lol!

Im on it @diggerdee zone 6 CT! I might have to sacrifice this dahlia in the name of science ;).

Here is the other one we have overwintered for a few years now. And this past Fall I did cut some of the tuber off...it was huge.

First flowers of "Mystic Illusion":

My dahlias put on quite a show for a while. These are in a raised bed and left out over winter. I think i bought as tubers from Costco a few years ago. They look pink in photo but are more purple. I also had a tree removed so they are getting more sun than in years past.

Beautiful! Mine are just starting to bloom. Will have to get a few pics - I've got a Fleurel opening and it's one of my favorites!

:)

Dee

Here's my first Fleurel. After I took the photo I see it has some black spots, and I spied an earwig trying to hide. But these blooms are huge - about 7-8 inches across. Love 'em!

I had a couple of other dahlias bloom but the photos were no good - blooms were nice, pics were not lol.

You know, gumneck, I was rereading your post because your dahlias are so lovely. I was thinking it must be nice to be able to leave the tubers in the ground. I'm guessing - and I could be wrong - but I'm guessing this allows the tubers to multiply and then you get nice little patches of dahlias. Here, where i have to dig and overwinter, I just get single plants. I suppose I could overwinter and then replant a whole clump, instead of dividing the tubers, and see how that does....

:)

Dee

Dee, I tend to leave the tubers until they're all good and large that they can easily be separated and pulled apart by hand, I do though thin and reduce the number of new stems to four or five per plant.

'Mr. Optimist', a bloom machine!

'Creme de Cognac' is all round very nice in bloom, foliage and habit.

'Matilda Huston' is a charming oldie, individual blooms age very well and just keep holding on even in high heat.

Beautiful, FB! I especially like the Creme de Cognac - just lovely!

:)

Dee

Thanks Dee, I hope to be seeing more of your dahlias :)

'Creme de Cognac' looks to be a keeper, seems to like to pump out the blooms, though "Go-Go Orange' is among the most productive and long blooming, I have three more of the series am waiting upon to hurry up and bloom, these I had over fed a bit causing tooo much foliage, I went in and removed some leaves and stems and seems to be helping. I really like not having to do any staking, though most of what I'm now growing is just a bit overly short and squat and need to select some that have more presence in the garden.

This neighbour, a street over, plants these dahlias on either side of their driveway each year (overwintering each plant).

@party_music50, the dahlias from seeds are they perennials, or will they come back next year?

I only have one dahlia in my garden bought from Costco a few years ago. I would like to try seeds also next year

Growing from seed is a really economical way of getting a large display. As well as using some of the named mixes (Bishops Children, Redskin Mix, Dandy collarettes and various species), it is worth saving a few seedheads of named varieties...if you enjoy potential surprises (and I do). Seed grown dahlias will form a tuber at the end of the growing season and can be dug up or left in ground (however you overwinter).

I often find volunteer seedlings coming up in my pots.

I don’t recall seeing any seedlings from Dahlia. But I normally pluck the blooms when they are done. Let me save a couple blooms and see if I can get some seeds. I really love this unnamed variety. thanks fir the idea

As HU-*007 said, they produce tubers. And mine produce seed quickly.