DAHLIA TUBERS
Coming March 11, 2023!
We love growing dahlias! Each year we divide our tubers so that we can share them with you. We had a wonderful sale at Seedy Saturday and we still have some great varieties available. See the list below, we will try our best to keep if up to date. If you would like purchase any please fill out the form below, or email us.
Local pick-up only this year.
Tubers are $10 each or $9 each when you buy 5 or more. Taxes included.
Varieties available in 2023:
American Dawn - Sold Out
Apple Blossom - Sold Out
Boom Boom White- Sold Out
Breakout- Sold Out
Brown Sugar - Sold Out
Burlesca - available
Buttercup - available
Café au Lait- Sold Out
Camano Buzz- Sold Out
Chilson's Pride- Sold Out
Cornel - available
Cornel Bronze - available
Crichton Honey- Sold Out
Daisy Duke - Sold Out
Diva - available
Ferncliff Copper- Sold Out
Ferncliff Spice - available
French Doll- Sold Out
Gingersnap- Sold Out
Golden Scepter- Sold Out
Hy Suntan - Sold Out
Irish Glow- Sold Out
Isabel- Sold Out
Jowey Nicky - available
Jowie Winnie - available
Koko Puff- Sold Out
L'Ancresse- Sold Out
Linda's Baby- Sold Out
Liquid Desire- Sold Out
Mission Pixie- Sold Out
Nicolas- Sold Out
Nuit d'Ete - Sold Out
Pink Runner- Sold Out
Purple Fox- Sold Out
Rebecca's World- Sold Out
Salmon Runner- Sold Out
Seattle- Sold Out
Silver Years - Sold Out
Skipley Lois Jean - available
Sweet Nathalie- Sold Out
Tahoma April - Sold Out
Valley Rust Bucket - available
Zundart Mystery Fox- Sold Out
Dahlia Planting Instructions
-
Dahlias are heat lovers and should be planted in an area of full sun for best results. Plant once the soil has warmed up and the danger of frost has pasted. This is roughly end of April or early May in the Powell River area and it varies depending on where you live and where you plan to plant. If the area is near your house or protected and you know that it doesn’t freeze there, you can plant earlier than in a field where a late spring frost might get it.
-
Prepare your planting hole by mixing in some good compost, a sprinkling of bone meal and some balanced organic fertilizer. Mix this all in well. Dig a hole 4” deep and place the tuber on its side with the growth eye facing up. Cover with soil. Dahlia plants get to be quite large, so space them about 12 inches apart on all sides.
-
Do not water your tubers until you start to see the green growth come up through the soil.
** To get a head start with your tubers, you can pot them up in a bright, warm spot indoors or in a greenhouse. Plant the tubers with the neck up and popping out of the soil – don’t bury them like you would when planting them in the ground. Keep them moist but not soaking. Once they start to grow you will need to water regularly but again not soaking. Once it is time plant them outside, plant the tuber 4” below the soil like usual and fill in the soil around the plant that is now growing. Depending on timing you can have flowers a few weeks earlier this way.
Dahlia Care
-
Once your plants are up through the soil you will want to water consistently.
-
Slugs and snails can be a problem when they are first growing up through the soil. If you struggle with slugs, you can protect them until they are large enough to outgrow the slugs by covering them with plastic dome (I have used translucent milk jugs or plastic pop bottles cut in half. it is not pretty, but this stage doesn’t last very long). Slug bait is also an option.
-
When the plants are about a foot tall, pinch out or cut off the tap 4” of the growing center. This encourages the plant to branch out from the base and gives you more flowers and longer stems in the end.
-
By midsummer tall plants will need some support. Place tall sturdy stakes next to the tubers close to planting time and tie stems to the stake as required. If you have lots of plants in rows, you can corral them but placing study posts around your planting area and running twine from post to post. Usually, two layers is enough.
-
Dahlia are not a super long lasting cut flower, but you can get 5-7 days if cut at the right time. For longest vase life, you want to cut them before they are almost fully open. Check the back of the flower head to see that there are no fading petals. Cut them in the cool of the morning or evening into a clean bucket with flower preservative if you have it.