12/16/2024
Growing dahlias is a wonderful ride. There is beauty entangled with emotion. Tons of back breaking labor that results in these luscious textures and colors. Stunning blooms atop what appears to be small trees or shrubs.
It shocks me every single season to see the size of the plant alone and then they begin to bloom. At times they are barely able to support the blossoms.
I share the beauty every season as it happens. Today I am sharing the messy bits. The digging process, the storage process and the division.
I store the tubers unwashed in clump form at first seperated by variety for named varieties, and by color for seedlings. Then I clean up the broken tubers and root hairy parts. Quite a bit of the soil falls off at harvest, much more during the first round of trimming roots. Then I divide and place the tubers in containers with peat moss.
As time passes the storage area becomes more and more organized and tidy in appearance.
These tubers are living things that grow underground. They desire contact with soil in high humidity environments. To prevent growth during winter months we keep them in the dark in a cool area, between 40-45 degrees Fahrenheit. I do this with a heater in our old milkhouse in the barn, it is set to turn on if temps fall below 40F.
I do not wash tubers as this is contrary to their natural desired environment.
