Maybe under a couple of feet of insulating leaves. The ground must never freeze around the tuber. An advantage of lifting them is that you can propagate from the new shoots.

For sure. I have lifted dahlias lots of times to then use them again the following season.

It will be an experiment. Losing one wont be the end of the world. (I had already piled tons of leaves on it).

Ah. I see. I thought you only had one clump.

Were I to try, I’d pile the leaves and anchor plastic over top to prevent the ground from getting wet.

tj

I have had dahlias come back for me, left in the ground. Usually, or I guess I should say always, because I forgot one here or there. So they have overwintered successfully in my zone 6 garden.

This has happened maybe 5-6 times. Most were in my garden, out in a rather open area, with no extra protection (because I didn't know they were there lol). Twice or so they've overwintered in my daughter's front foundation bed, where, as you mentioned, they were close to the house and it was a very sunny area.

I would say go for it! If you have other clumps or tubers and don't mind losing this if it doesn't work, then there's no harm in trying. Digging and storing dahlias (and then dealing with them in spring) is a major pain in the neck. If you can save yourself a bit of work, more power to you!

:)

Dee

For two years, I had a dahlia come back that was planted against the foundation, the tuber must have been down a good three inches or more and never had I given it any bit of extra insulation, it only perished for me digging and discarding it. Tomorrow, am gonna tuck a salvia and some tender penstemon next to the foundation rather than bringing them into the garage.

Add me to the list of ’experiments’. This thread jogged a memory of Polianthes tuberosa, which a previous homeowner planted right up against the foundation - south facing exposure. It came back for a few years although I eventually lost it. So today, I took some dahlia tubers out of pots and tucked them into the dirt in that southern exposure, tight up against the foundation. Since I‘ve never successfully overwintered dahlia tubers I figure what’s to lose?