Putting the Dahlias to bed.

The dahlias we planted back in April despite the earwig problem did extremely well. With the help of a decent insecticide spray the earwigs were kept at bay and the dahlias bloomed in late May and continued to give an excellent display until the first frost killed them at the end of October.

It was now time to cut back the tops and lift the tubers to keep in a frost free place until next spring. When we bought the tubers back in March they where the cheapest we could find and as such where just labelled as mixed. The tubers themselves were the size of a couple of fingers.

What a difference a season makes...

Given that I am no expert, in order to be able to identify which plant is which I produced little labels with a picture of the flower and tied them to each tuber. Next spring the larger tubers will be split to make three or four plants so we will be able to arrange the planting appropriately (perhaps).

So that's it, the tubers will be left to dry and then put to bed and kept warm for the winter..  A couple of years ago back in the UK we lost all our Dahlias due to the very cold winter and not keeping them frost free. Once bitten twice shy, these babies will be kept well wrapped up....