Dahlia Bouquets
Dahlias are beautiful in a vase. Plus, the more you cut them the more they will bloom. To gather flowers for a bouquet, cut the stems in the morning before the heat of the day and put them into a bucket with cool water. Remove bottom leaves from the stems and place the dahlias in a vase. Put the vase in a cool spot and check the water daily. The bouquet should last about a week.
Digging and Storing Dahlias for Winter
Unless you live in a warmer region, you have to dig up dahlias in late fall before there is a hard frost in your area. Native to Mexico, Dahlias won’t survive freezing temperatures. Digging and storing dahlias is extremely easy and simple, and will save you the money that would otherwise go into buying new ones each year.
If you live in an area where your ground doesn’t freeze, you don’t need to dig up your tubers. The general rule is: If you live in USDA Hardiness Zone 8 or warmer, you can leave dahlias in the ground. In Zone 6 or colder, dig them up. In Zone 7, you may be able to get away with just covering the plants with a thick layer of leaf or straw mulch, but if a freeze hits, you may lose them.
Find your USDA Hardiness Zone here.
When to Dig Up Tubers
Dig up dahlias before the first hard freeze. A light freeze (32°F / 0°C) will kill the foliage, but a hard freeze (28°F / -4°C) will kill the tubers, too. See your fall frost dates.
A good indication of when to dig your tubers up is when the plant starts to turn brown and die back.
How to Dig Up Tubers
Digging up tubers is easy:
- After fall frost has killed back the foliage, cut the stems down to 2 to 4 inches.
- Carefully dig around tubers with a pitchfork (or shovel) without damaging them.
- Lift and gently shake the soil off the tubers.
That’s it! Cut rotten tubers off the clump and leave the clumps outside in the sun upside down to dry naturally.
How to Store Dahlia Tubers
- Pack in a loose, fluffy material (vermiculite, dry sand, Styrofoam peanuts).
- Store in a well-ventilated, frost-free place at around 45°F (7°C).
Re-planting Tubers in Spring
- In the spring, remove the tubers from their storage containers, separate healthy tubers from the parent clump, and plant in the garden. Each tuber must have at least one “eye” or a piece of the crown attached or it will not develop into a blooming plant. The eyes are located at the base of the stem and look like little pink bumps.
See our gardener’s article on how to unpack and divide your stored dahlia tubers!
If this all seems like too much bother or you do not have the right storage place, skip digging and storing, and just start over by buying new tubers in the spring.
Reader Comments
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Dahlia spacing
Just a comment about planting dahlias. I received multiple colors of dahlias that grew beautifully the first year. They were lifted in the fall, labeled and stored. The following year, I replanted fairly close together as the tubers were huge(think sweet potatoes!). To my surprise, every single plant bloomed RED. Evidently, the color gene in dahlias is unstable. Just a heads-up if you are tempted to plant too close together!
Will they need to be lifted out of the ground?
Hello! I live in Cincinnati, OH, I am not the best at plants I will admit - will they need to be lifted out of the ground in the region where I live to come back? I hope not, because I just planted a lot! Also, do they do okay with Lillies?
Thanks!
Wintering dahlias grown from seed
I plant a variety of dahlia from seed (Zone 3), and the plants do grow a kind of tuber and on previous winters, I have tried to dig them up and bring them inside and I have found that they completely dry up. Could these be a variety that you can’t save the tubers? This year, I have managed to pull the blooms apart and saved seeds from them.
Will Dahlias grow under or around lilacs ?
I have several lilacs by my road, I wanted to plant dahlias around them to bloom after the lilacs. Will the dahlias grow with the lilacs? Thank you, Trina
dahlias near lilacs?
Ultimately, this is likely to be disappointing. Dahlias need space and lilac roots reach out about one and a half times the length of the branches—a 10-foot-wide plant can have 15-foot roots. So the dahlias would be choked out. Look around; you seldom see more than grass under lilacs, and this is why.
Too late?
Is it too late to plant my dahlias? I live in zone 7b and I was just planning on planting them and not digging them up in the fall? Will they bloom?
Planting Dahlias now in Colorado
Can I plant the tubers now (June 23rd)? I didn't get a chance to put them in the ground earlier. Or should I wait until next year?
Dark Foliage
I live in Zone 5b. I purchased a City Lights Golden Yellow Dahilla plant. I have it planted in a south facing garden without alot of shelter from the wind. The foliage has turned a very dark green almost black and the although it has lots of buds the flowers hardly open then just end up dying. It was doing great for the first week, then this started. Sadly the same thing happend last year. HELP!
dahlia fusarium wilt
Hi, Shannon. This sounds like fusarium wilt, especially since you say the same thing happened last year. Unfortunately you will need to destroy the infected plants and grow new plants in a different area.
How to grow big dalias?
I live in Arizona, zone 9. I have problem to grow beautiful dalias. It is 110 degree F now. I planted in February, got one in each and some didn't. All are in a separate pot. Please advise.
in Arizona...
Plants in pots tend to be hotter and dry out faster than those in ground, especially in clay pots. You’ve had some success, so you are doing some things right, but you might do better with larger pots and maybe more water (or water retaining soil). See the comments below about growing in pots, too.
zone 8 here in texas
I have one plant blooming now and want to know if I leave it to winter in ground will it multiple like my Iris's do?
multiple dahlias?
Your dahlia should produce tubers from the original one, but to benefit from these new ones, you need to lift (dig up) the whole cluster, then separate them. Only the tubers with “eyes” will produce flowers; the others you can discard. If your plant has never been lifted, you might want to do this now, separate any new ones, and plant those with eyes.
Dahlias
Can Dahlias be planted in a large pot & not in a garden?
Dahlias in Containers
Yes, dahlias can be grown in containers. Follow the same spacing and depth requirements mentioned above. Ensure your container size–ensure it’s big enough to support the plant at maturity (generally a 12″ by 12″ container will be large enough). Cover the tuber with a few inches of soil and water it in. Be careful about watering until growth starts…but don’t let the potting media dry out. Also make sure your media is well drained so the tubers don’t rot. You’ll also need to fertilize throughout the summer.
Tubers
If the tubers aren't planted after a season grown and dug up in the fall but not able to plant the following season and try to plant them the next season or do they get to dry and won't grow
dahlia in a pot
thanks for your helpful suggestions. I would like to know if I can plant them in a pot and which kind of dahlia is best to do it
thanks
Dahlias
Thanks for any comment. Will these flowers survive one night of below freezing temperatures?
Question re planting tubbers
Thanks for the helpful tips and information. I have a question, I bought Dahlia tubbers over a year ago and forgot to plant them, is it possible that they would still grow if I planted them now?
old dahlias
Thank YOU, Michelle! About your dahlias: We here are eternal optimists, so…Check out your tubers. If they are not dried out to a crisp, plant them, following the guidance above, and see what happens. Then consider buying more soon and plant them as “sure things.”
Novice Dahlia Grower
I live in zone 6a. I would like to create a dense collection of dahlias to grow next to my fence - more of a bush type of look rather than individual stems. I don’t want it too short because I have some 1-11/2 foot allums along the boarder. Any suggestions?
Dahlias
Try planting a few different varieties with differing heights, staggering them in such a way that they still have room for themselves, but give the appearance of a dense hedge of dahlias.
Check out Burpee’s selection of dahlias here—you can sort by height to see which would work best for you!
Dahlias
Just printed up some infor on the care of Dahlias for a neighbor of mine.
Storing Dahlias
Ive bought a dahlia in a pot. Its probably to late to plant it in the garden. So can i just leave it in the pot and store it in my none heated greenhouse over winter and plant it in the spring.
Overwintering Dahlias
Hi Patricia,
If you live in USDA Zone 8 or higher, you can leave the dahlia in the pot or in the ground over the winter. In regions that experience freezing or below freezing temperatures, follow the instructions under Harvest/Storage and Taking Up the Tubers, which can be found above on this page. We hope this helps!
Save the Dahlia bulbs
Hi The Editors,
I live in zone 10, my Dahlias were planted in the large container. The blooming season is ending soon and I will cut the plants down to the base. Please teach me:
- Can I keep the tuber in the container until next year?
- It's very warm here, do I need to cover them with mulch?
- Can I put some small containers with planted flowers on top of the tubers? It means the tubers will be watered.
Thank you for your help.
Question about planting dates
I purchased some dahlia bulbs. Can I plant them in the summer or must I wait until the spring after the last frost? I’m in northern Ontario, Zone 3B, according to planthardiness website. Would putting down mulch before the winter help? Would the snow provide enough insulation? Would it be better for me to plant these bulbs in pots and take them inside during the winter? Thanks for your help.
too late to plant dahlias?
Dahlia bulbs are planted in the spring once risk of frost has passed. They will grow quickly and the plants will be blooming by mid to late summer.
In your region, dahlias also need to be lifted out of the ground for winter storage if you want them to bloom next year. Many gardeners treat dahlias as annuals.
So, given where you live, you could try storing the tubers over the winter. If properly stored (usually in a vermiculite or peat moss), they should be fine.
First buds
I just wanted to comment that it takes alot longer than 8 weeks to show the first buds. I started my dahlias from tubers in late February and today July 13th I've finally had my first flower (after removing the first buds as recommended). These dahlias had better be worth the wait because the enormous amount of work that has gone into babying them(constant fertilizing, adding micronutrients, soil amendments, water, insect treatments, staking, etc.) has been utterly frustrating. I live in zone 7 and at this rate I will be lucky to have 3 months of growth. I'm just not sure it's worth the effort.
Dahlias
When dahlias bloom has a lot to do with the soil warmth and how deeply they are planted (ensure an eye is present on each tuber clump). We would suggest early blooming variety if possible. We have had late varieties that never bloomed before the first frost in the fall! Also: Once the leaves begin forming and the plants are 3 to 4 inches tall, pinch the terminal bud just above the second pair of leaves. This will produce two main stems. Remove the buds when the flower buds are visible. This will increase the bloom size of the leader bud and improve the flower stem formation. Flower buds come in sets of three. The central leader bud will produce the largest bloom. There will be a smaller flower bud on each side of the leader bud. Remove these side buds by pinching. Further down the same stem, two more buds will be found in the leaf axils and these, too, should be removed.
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