This passed fall I had every intention of being good and digging up my dahlia's and storing them properly. Then we had 10" of snow two days before Halloween. The dahlia's never did get dug up. Today I was poking around and moved some mulch away from the base. The dahlia that had overwintered in the ground the previous winter has numerous shoots starting to emerge. I then checked the others, and all have sturdy shoots starting to emerge. Last year I believed the one that survived was a chance occurrence, now I'm not so sure. This will give me a real head start and the plants should be much larger from the early start.
Now, can someone tell me why all of my carnations perished during this very mi,d winter...
if they were planted deep and with mild winter they shouldn't have any problems growing this spring :)
ReplyDeleteJenny, they are not planted very deep as they were set out as seedlings. The one that has me very curious is the one that has survived two winters in the ground. I really should take some cuttings from it and see how it winters in other locations.
DeleteWell that was lucky Ed that your dahlias survived even a mild winter. That is great and you will not have to worry about replacing them this year. The Dahlias made it and your carnations died. I had about 4 tall phlox die. Why in such a mild winter? I am puzzled too.
ReplyDeleteLona, I'm still trying to figure out what happened. The carnations were even in a more protected area. I guess the dahlia's shouldn't surprise me. I have gladiolus that have been returning for at least 15 years!
DeleteEd- I wonder how high up in the mountains you are, and in what Zone? I searched for 'perennial dahlia' and found your post. I am looking at a very healthy plant here in my Maine garden (Zone 5B now I think) that has come up at least 3 years--no flowers however. We do mulch the bed in winter. It would be rare for anyone here to overwinter glads, for instance.
ReplyDeleteI dug it up one fall and looking at the roots decided it must be something else, like some variety of hydrangea--so replanted it. But now I don't think so. Like you said, maybe I need to divide it and test some more--Mainers would love to have one we didn't have to lift each fall.