I didn’t know that dahlias root easily from cuttings! wish I had know that many years ago…

I grew this dahlia from seed in 2023 or 2024, overwintered it dormant in its pot on my unheated porch, and moved it back outdoors recently to grow again. I was surprised to see it flowering already!

@party_music50, very lovely dainty dahlia bloom. More special since you grew it from seed

@forever_a_newbie_VA8, that is from a ‘Redskin‘ dahlia seed mix and I was very impressed with how quickly they grow and flower. Here are some others from the mix that I grew in-ground the first year:

@party_music50, both blooms are so lovely!

'Creme de Cognac' is showing much better this year with the cool to moderate temperatures and the bit of afternoon shade it receives. I'm now gravitating to compact growing varieties that do not require staking, just one less job to do in an all too massive of a yard!

'Muchacha'

FB those are very nice! I've been toying with growing some of the shorter varieties, likely in pots on the patio or in beds closer to the house. I keep using my budget on the taller ones though, which don't look as neat and compact as you say, but i like them for cutting. And I AM a sucker for the BIG blooms.

party music I thought I responded when you initially posted, but I guess I didn't. I LOVE the colors in that Redskin mix! So soft and elegant and just lovely!

I did finally get a bloom (could have sworn I posted it somewhere lol) and I should post it here, but I just got a new computer last week and I have yet to get my act together. I've got external drives and flash drives and what not laying around my desk and my garden pictures are mostly on there, or my phone, but I will get to it.

That first bloom was Sisa, a yellow bloom. Actually, FB, lol, I think Sisa IS a compact variety! I didn't think it was, but the plant is still quite small and doesn't seem in a hurry to grow much bigger, and is the plant with the most buds, so perhaps I DO have my compact dahlia!

:)

Dee

I like the range of height to about 3.5 ft, after that then staking often is required. This spring, did buy some vegetative grown border types, these sure have come a long ways of recent years, though don't know if I'll be able to keep them over for often very small or near non existent tubers are produced, can be pricey annuals otherwise. I must keep the number of tubers in check, maybe a dozen and that's it, otherwise is difficult to manage all the tasks here!

Oh, I think I had 'Sisa' or something very similar a few years ago.

Dahlia 'Neon Flare' ... has the annoying habit of producing blooms with insufficient petals, this one though is perfect.

@FrozeBudd_z3/4, very lovely daisy dahlias!

perhaps This is blue boy?

Thomas Edison?

Forever_a_newbie, those are beauties, I need to add such a color to my small dahlia collection.

'Mr. Optimist' is a massive bloomer with thirty five currently! Am fortunate to have the variety for two of the three tubers from within the package needing to be culled, one for leafy gall, the other with severe leaf disease ... this one with but the faintest of leaf speckling to remain healthy and vigorous ...

Mine are finally in full swing. I grow two rows with tall cutting varieties,

and for this season, the different colors go so well together in bouquets, that it lovely, I need to leanr all the new names and try to keep them (overwintering is tricky sometimes)

I just hung those over some support stakes/frame to see the colors together

Such beauties everyone! My dahlias are starting to bloom - have already brought a few little bouquets to work. I figure I never have time to enjoy my garden so I bring it to work with me! Especially loving the Great Silence (of course!) and the Fleurel and what I think is Bridezilla. I also have a new-to-me red (can't remember the name and couldn't find the label stuck in the pot lol). It's such a deep dark almost maroonish color - from a distance they almost look black. I'm enjoying trying that one in different color combinations.

FB, is that dill you have growing with your dahlias? It's beautiful. As you probably know I used to sell bouquets and my partner (who sold greens) always let me cut from her flower garden. She would let dill reseed and she had huge plants - five feet tall, with large heads. They were just gorgeous in bouquets. I tried to grow some in my garden and just couldn't get it to stick. I'll have to try again!

:)

Dee

This is one of the worst gardening years that I can remember, and everything was started late, so my in-ground tubers are just starting to bloom. The bees found them in no time!

Gorgeous! Glad I found this discussion. I usually hang out with roses folks, though forever a newbie is also a rose person. Anyway, have grown a few dahlias before, but pretty haphazardly. This was first year I got “into” it & ordered a couple online, plus got some tubers from a former student who now has a flower farm. I’m LOVING KA Mocha Jake. And Meagan Dean.

Some cut dahlias 2 days in vase

Beautiful, everyone!

@DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA), I love the subtle soft colors of your dahlias. I need to grow some next year. Yeah I am a rose person too but really here Dahlias rule over roses in the hot summer.Lady in Red is an exception and blooms away in the heat

Heatwave still going on

Linaria, I love your gardens, I bet you spend copious hours out among the plants! Your dahlia color palette is very much to my liking! :)

Dee, yes, that's dill tucked in there, had sown it along with spinach and lettuce in March as soon as the snow had receded away from the foundation of the house, sure did made for some early greens!

Party_music, I hope late summer brings you some lasting favorable weather, here it's been a cool summer of good adequate rains, has been very nice not to live standing behind a garden hose and for the most part the gardens have thrived, apparently our first and extended heatwave is only now about to arrive, I'll take it!

Forever_a_newbie, that rather does look like 'Blue Boy', though mine had leafy gall and was discarded upon digging the very first season. I need to try again with another of similar color. Your 'Lady in Red' rose is fantastic and will have to check into this one!

DDinSB, that indeed is gorgeous subtle smoky dahlia color palette! :)

'Karma Choc' always a favorite ...

@FrozeBudd_z3/4, Karma Choc' is such a deep red almost black. Amazing

My NO-ID dahlia from Costco. Still my favorate. With work and holidays out of country I did not get to root a branch so will try to split some for a friend

Is NO ID the name, or it didn’t come with a name? It’s beautiful!

good morning @forever_a_newbie_VA8

the orange one on the very left is Gwyneth

I had to recheck in the garden

I think it is a waterlily type, now it tends to open centered flowers

apart from that I love it

ist has verly long stalks great for cutting and the color changes slightly depending upon the temperature

we have cool nights now, around or below 60F, and the red gets more vibrant in the petals

there seem to be some vendors or farms who offer it

Dahlia adict. A-Z Dahlia cultivars and where to get them

@linaria_gw, thanks! Gwyneth is certainly a beauty. I will look for it next spring

@DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA), its was in a mix bag from Costco a few years ago and I did not note down the name

Dynamite turns out very nice, low growing and blooming abundantly

But I really fall in love with Thomas Edison. Such great impact

Forever_a_newbie, that pinky peachy one is for sure a beauty!

Really should have kept the label from this one I picked up at the greenhouse this spring, a short compact grower with the most amazing long lasting blooms I have ever seen, must be 3 weeks that each flower remains looking great, I have deadheaded a mere three or four blooms all summer and that's it! The color is accurate.

@FrozeBudd_z3/4, 3 weeks is amazing even for dahlias! and the color is gorgeous!

My daughter sent a photo of th dahlia she planted this spring in Seattle. I really love it. Unfortunately she lost the tag.

I thought I did not like Dynamite, but it turns out very nice now

And it has variance of different color patterns

Thomas Edison really stands out

No Id from Costco

Happy fall gardening

Mystic Illusion this morning

I haven't really taken any photos in the garden but I do have a couple pics of cut dahlias. I especially wanted to share my favorite since last year, Great Silence, and a new dahlia to me this year, which I think off the top of my head is Arabian Night. A stretch for me in the color department, I like this dahlia much more than I thought I would. At times in the garden it looks almost black. It's quite eye-catching imo. Although honestly my camera does not do justice to either dahlia!

Great Silence (with Arabian Nights peeking out from behind)

Arabian Nights with (I think) Bridezilla.

Arabian Nights with Sisa.

I'll have to try to remember to get some blooms out in the garden! newbie, love your NOID from Costco! Your Thomas Edison is much pinker than mine.

:)

Dee

@diggerdee zone 6 CT, what a combination! Great Silence and Arabian Nights togeter are breath taking. After seeing everyone’s pictures I am looking forward to seeing different varieties in store next year

My Dynamite is growing on me everyday

Actually I am not sure if these 2 are from one plant

I planted 3 tubers of them in spring

some Dahlia varieties have changing flower color due to "jumping genes"

imagine there being and on-off switch on the genom part that creates color production so some flowers show a lot of red (or yellow) and others are almost white

as far as I remember, Rebecca`s World was the first to have this unusual genetic.

THere is always the possibility of wrong labelling, but the shades of red looked identical to me and reminded me of the Rebecca`s world phenomenon

here is a longer explanation: jumping genes explained

Fun to see everyone's dahlias! :)

I think this is my top favorite for the most bloomyfull dahlia.

'Go Go Orange', it just keeps going and requires little deadheading, no others within the series come close the profusion of this dahlia, only wish the plant grew a bit taller.

@linaria_gw, thanks for this information! I do believe my Dynamite falls in the category of ”jumping genes”. Some of the pale cream and red blooms are definitely from one branch. I am very excited

@FrozeBudd_z3/4, your ’Go Go Orange' is a crazy blooming machine.

My heatwave. The red color really pops up from the greens

Another NoID dahlia I got last fall on sale. it was labeled as Pink Dahlia

It is really not a good idea buying on sale potted dahlia by end of season. It was more expensive than getting a root tubers in spring and the plant has been much slower to grow and bloom. My other Orange Dahlia did not come up at all

@indianagardengirl I have a soft spot for "Mystic Illusion" as it was maybe the first dahlia that I successfully overwintered as dormant tuber. I keep my eyes open for its "cousin" Mystic Enchantment but I havent seen it in my travels for 2 or 3 seasons :(.

https://planthaven.com/plant/dahlia-mystic-enchantment/

Not mine but rather a neighbour's a couple of streets over. I took these pics today after an extended rainfall so they are looking a bit worse for wear.

One side of the driveway:

The other side:

My porch pot getting a hint of rain today:

@rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a), a great collection of Dahlias your neighbor has, very colorful

@party_music50, the rain absolutely has a refreshing effect and your dahlia looks very happy

My Pink Dahlia turns out not pink at all. It is purple, maybe with a tiny of red. And the flower is big. Definitely a late bloomer

Wonderful photos everyone! This is why I go through the misery of saving tubers haha!

Speaking of that, about three weeks ago (so roughly the first week of September) I was cleaning an area of my basement, and came across a cardboard box marked "dahlias". I thought it was an empty box I had put back for the summer, but no! It had about 8 paper grocery bags with dahlia tubers!

I groaned and thought how stupid it was of me to miss these in the spring and how they were probably dead, but to my surprise the majority of the tubers were viable, with some sprouted and even some long, white, spindly growth.

I potted up about a dozen more tubers that day. I figured that I might not get blooms but the tubers themselves would survive better potted up. They have all grown and some are growing so well I think I might get a bloom or two!

A few more cut dahlias

:)

Dee

Beautiful blooms everyone! Dee, yes, I bet those tubers were a surprise to come upon and hopefully can gain a bit of strength before another winter ahead. I had a somewhat similar surprise ... I had gifted a dresser to my sister and when removing the items sitting upon it, well there was a nice stack of loose bills I stashed there for what was meant to be a temporarily hideaway, ooops! lol.

'Go Go Pink Yellow', looks pretty and all, but has shown to be a shy producer of blooms that individually are not very long lasting, I do not recommend and will not keep. :(

In comparison to the insanity production of quality lasting bloom of 'Go Go Orange', I know, I know, I've posted this one many times, it's a gem!

@diggerdee zone 6 CT, what a pleasant surprise! hopefully they will grow well. I love your dahlias bouquets!

@FrozeBudd_z3/4, 'Go Go Pink Yellow' is a beauty. And it looks like a exotic Chrysanthemums.

My new ”pink” noid dahlia is huge，close to 11 inches cross. It must be a ”dinner plate” variety

Two no id Dahlias

The dinner plate 😊

A cute pair. Both no id

Dynamite is getter better each day

A mislabeled Crazy Love

Dynamite behind a huge mum

So beautiful!!!!

The potted dhalias in my roof garden. no tag for the cultivar name. They bloomed with lots of gorgeous blooms for nearly 4 months. All of July, August, September and 25 days of October. Took the tubers out yesterday. Zone 7a

Such beautiful blooms everyone! I'm going to kind of cheat again and show one in the vase, lol. Went to my daughter's yesterday and found this lone bloom hidden amongst some other plants. It's HUGE! Fleurel - one of my faves! Had to bring it in to enjoy it!

Just realized there's nothing in the photo for perspective, but this had to be about 8 inches across. As my daughter said, "It's as big as my head!"

:)

Dee

@diggerdee zone 6 CT, that is a perfect shaped dahlia, and white! I need a white dahlia next year

The dahlia season is winding down. Today picked the last no-id dahlia with rose Sharifa Asma

Sharifa Asma is the most fragrant rose in my garden

Oh, newbie, I once grew Sharifa Asma. What a gorgeous rose! But like every other rose I've ever grown, I killed it lol. After a long time, (and a bit more sun due to tree loss) I've decided to try roses again and have been eyeing Sharifa again....

:)

Dee

Hello Dahlia lovers! I’ve never successfully overwintered them, but I would like to try again. In the past I dug them up, washed off the dirt, wrapped in newspaper and stored in a shoebox in the garage. Come spring they were totally dessicated and wouldn’t awaken. What is you favorite method?

As I don't have many to save so my go to method is to pot them up in soil and put the pot in our cold cellar (the coldest it gets is 4C/40F). (But clearly this technique isn't practical if you have many tubers to overwinter).

indianagirl, I tried many methods over the years. And usually they were methods that other people swore by, but didn't work for me, so I encourage you to keep trying until you find what works for you.

What works for ME is this - I dig up the tubers about two weeks after a hard frost, usually on a cold and miserable day in late November lol (and getting later each year it seems, with climate change). So at that point not only am I too non-motivated to clean and look for eyes, but honestly, I can really never see the eyes in fall. So I divide in spring. Even then I have trouble seeing eyes!

So I dig them up, cut off the stems, and I do not usually wash them off - too cold, and I have nowhere really ideal to let them dry. Plus, see-above mentioned note about being cold and miserable lol. No way I'm getting my hands wet then!

I place the whole clump in a paper grocery bag. If my clumps are small I will put in one or two of the same dahlia, but usually I have no more than two clumps in a bag. I throw a label in the bag, and also label the outside of the bag.

I then place the bags, with the tops folded over, into a large cardboard box. I try to line up the bags neatly, but usually end up running out of room and out of boxes, so I do sometimes lay one or two bags lightly on top, over the row of standing bags. I try not to squish down too hard.

Then I tape up the boxes. I use tape because mine get stored in my basement and I am in a semi-rural, woodsy area and mice in the basement are a fact of life. I just don't want the mice to get in the boxes and get comfortable, so I tape them shut.

Then they go into my basement for the winter, and that's it. My basement is probably between 40 and 50 degrees. I always say I'm going to get a thermometer to track the temps but I never do. But I have to say I am very satisfied with my success rate with this method. I would say, very unscientifically (more like a guess lol) that I have about an 85% - 90% survival rate this way. In spring, I am always giving away young plants and even have sold some extras.

Another way that I had success with also yielded good survival rates. But it was a lot more work, and I used this when I tried to separate tubers in fall. I do think it works better when the tubers are separated but your experience may differ. Dig up the tubers, cut off the stems and divide (or not). Line a large cardboard box with newspaper and mist very lightly. Then put a layer of peat moss. Place the tubers in the peat moss and mist again very lightly. Cover with more newspaper and repeat until your box is full. Cover the whole thing with newspaper, mist again, and close up the box. You're kind of making a dahlia tuber lasagna lol.

I DID have success with this method, but as the number of dahlias in my collection grew, it was just too much work and the above paper bag method worked just as well for me and was less labor-intensive (in the miserable cold lol). Also, for me, I was always never sure just how much to mist, and would wonder if I over-misted or under-misted lol.

And I would also add, give them time in the spring! I am always surprised at the ones I think are dead and then sprout. And this year, I found a box of tubers I had missed in the basement - in AUGUST. I planted them out and they all pretty much grew!

In spring, I have started getting foil trays (the kind you cook in) and putting about an inch or so of potting soil in them, and laying the tubers in them, and just lightly misting (there's that darn misting again lol - always causing me grief as to whether to mist or not to mist!). I keep them on a table inside if it's still too cold. As they sprout I pot them up and condense the foil trays, and if it's warm enough I move the trays outside. I keep these going until June sometimes and really, most of them do sprout eventually.

Good luck. IMO digging and storing dahlias is a most unenjoyable thing, but I do it because the dahlias are so wonderful, and so worth the misery lol.

Let us know what method you use this year and how it works for you in the spring!

:)

Dee