Everybody has one here.
Never saw one in Tennessee!

Margaret - I don't know anything about growing dahlias in zone 3 but starting them indoors (if possible) would give you a head start on the season. They can't be considered hardy even here in zone 7 though often those I leave in the ground, because I didn't care for them, return in early May. Dahlias in pots die for me but I've heard others have good luck with them.

Ivory Flakes was not considered a detergent. Women used it to wash their "delicates", like nylons (days before pantyhose!).

We have a basement and crawl space but it's a bit too warm in the basement, around 60 - 65 degrees. We're at 17' elevation and on a peninsula so we're totally surrounded by water and yet have never had any water problems through any flooding or storms.

Crittergarden and Susan - I'd never consider dahlias if I weren't retired! The most I did in pre retirement years was a small tomato patch, many bulbs, irises, daylilies, hostas, and a small garden.

Thanks pirl, that's about what I have here. I did order one Dahlia and it is a beauty. I cannot find the invoice but I will tell you the name when I do. I think it was purple and white.

Wow, you have a very warm basement. Our garage stays between 40 & 50°.

Thanks Arlene. I do set up a grow light in March or early April, we can't plant until the 24th of May. I have a little outdoor cellar that I could over winter them in. Maybe someone that lives in a cold zone can jump in here.

Ivory Snow was a pure soap laundry product that came either granulated or in flakes. Hence "Ivory Snow Flakes." They don't make it now. Stuff in flake form took forever to dissolve! I still have an old box made by one of their competitors, "White King D" soap flakes, that I occasionally use for washing things that don't like detergent. Pain to get to dissolve, too!

I just finished putting up my dahlias (only a few that I care to keep) and I'm trying using shredded paper instead of straw or vermiculite or sand. But I did the same: put each in an individual labeled bag and then put all the bags in a big trash bag back in the mud room. It's sitting on the floor just now, till I get a hook put up to hang it from. I have no idea if this will work well, but I had to do something!

mcash70 said:Thanks Arlene. I do set up a grow light in March or early April, we can't plant until the 24th of May. I have a little outdoor cellar that I could over winter them in. Maybe someone that lives in a cold zone can jump in here.

Margaret, I grow them here in Northern Minnesota and I think we have a similar climate to you. I start a few of them inside but mostly I plant them out in the middle of May unless it's a terribly cold spring. Some of them bloom earlier than others, it's just been an experiment to see which ones do the best. I always have to start Gitt's Perfection inside because it takes so long to bloom but it's my favorite so I do it.

I grow dahlias from seed every year and start them in my GH around mid March. They grow pretty quickly for me. I generally can't set them out till the first of June, but they always bloom for me. One this year got to be over 4 ft tall and was just covered with large, dark red flowers! I don't buy named ones, just the inexpensive mixed seeds.

pirl said: Crittergarden and Susan - I'd never consider dahlias if I weren't retired! The most I did in pre retirement years was a small tomato patch, many bulbs, irises, daylilies, hostas, and a small garden.

See, I'm planning for it to get EASIER as I age. I'm 55 and already have a bad back, so I'm doing "bulbs, irises, daylilies, hostas", asiatic lilies, and other perennials so that eventually all I'll have to do is weed. And divide as necessary of course, but not a lot of digging all the time. I want a LARGE veggie garden though, so I'll work hard there.

Well, reading all this discussion about dahlias finally got me to go out and see if I could salvage that big red one. Yikes! The cluster of tubers is HUGE!!! Hard to believe it was started from seed just this spring. Hope it survives my storage treatment.

Oh, and Margaret, I grow a number of dahlias in pots. Big pots, at least 3 gallon, and a couple in 7 gallon, and they do fine for me. The ones in the ground get bigger, but I've had good luck with them even in 2 gallon pots. The big red one (darn, wish I'd gotten some pictures of it blooming) was grown in a medium size stock watering tank. I've overwintered a few in pots, but they take up more room that way. We aren't quite as cold here, tho.

Tell me your dahlia seed starting and planting out method, Woof.

Thanks Susie and Woofie.

I may just give them a try this spring and see how they do for me here. I used to grow them when I lived on Vancouver Island, I would dig them up, shake the dirt off, let them dry on newspaper in the garage and then store them in cardboard boxes.

crittergarden said:Tell me your dahlia seed starting and planting out method, Woof.

I don't do anything special. They're easy to start from seed. Plant about 1/4" deep, keep at around 70 degrees, and they germinate in about a week. I start them in 4-packs and move them into 4" pots when they're transplanting size. Mine stay in the small pots till it's safe to plant them out. They don't seem to mind being jostled about a bit.

mcash70 said:Thanks Susie and Woofie.

I may just give them a try this spring and see how they do for me here. I used to grow them when I lived on Vancouver Island, I would dig them up, shake the dirt off, let them dry on newspaper in the garage and then store them in cardboard boxes.

That's exactly what I do! But I do put them in open plastic grocery bags before I put them in the box.

Right. Separating the individual plants helps to prevent the entire bunch from going bad if one starts to go south. Plus, you can write on the bags to label them.

Dahlias are very easy to grow from seed and well worth the adventure. You'll end up digging the same huge clumps as though you bought tubers at the start.

Crittergarden - I'm still trying my best to have a weed free garden. This year we used more mulch than ever before and had very few weeds. Our vegetable garden was 30 x 20 (still is) but now it's The Park, where I grow dahlias, hydrangeas, a few roses, clematises, Louisiana irises along with a few vegetables. I've had degenerative disc disease for many years but vegetable gardening never seemed to be the chore, or drudgery, of many other plants...like the evil Houttuynia cordata 'Chameleon'.

When we had over 2000 daylilies I divided them with strong knives from thrift shops. That's far easier than digging up clumps, rinsing off, twisting apart, etc.
Vegetable garden photos and then The Park photos:

Exactly, and it also helps them to not dry out so much. what woofie said.

Pirl, I just love your "Park!" That walkway is nice, too. I'm a sucker for nice walkways. Sigh.

Virginiarose:

@pirl , I just love that garden pirl!! That brick pathway is just stunning. Well, for now I am happy just looking at your pictures. Wow!!! 2000 daylilies?


@crittergarden I know what you mean about aging, check out my info box on profile. I will join you @ 55, very soon.