How to lift dahlia tubers

It’s November, and here at Common Farm Flowers we are lifting our dahlias and storing them for the winter. Sometimes we leave them in the ground with a thick mulch of good compost to stop them rotting if it’s wet, or disintegrating if it’s very cold. But this year we are lifting them all, and having a good sort out, getting rid of some, and keeping our favourites to propagate in the spring.

We keep our dahlia tubers in the cold, dark office over winter because it is frost free, so far mouse free, is rarely over 10°, and because it faces north is dark enough not to encourage growth. We leave them still covered in soil as this also protects the tubers if there were an invading mouse scrabbling about.

In the spring I will take each tuber and carefully split it, making on average about 10 plants per tuber.  I’ll pot these up on the 1st of April, and put them in the poly tunnel to sprout.

They’ll be hardened off during May, and planted out on the 1st of June.  

Next year our dahlias will be planted in a new patch, where I’m about to plant the tulip bulbs.

For more on dahlias and how to have a fantastic display we hold online workshops which I host live via zoom. And yes we do have a dahlia workshop scheduled for next spring.

Have a good day everybody - I’m off to dig up some more of my babies.