Its dahlia time and the dahlialama is excited. He has been enthusiastically repeating his chant of BLOOOOOOOMMMMMMM! For the uninitiated, turning your kitchen into a pseudo-green house in late March through late May yields beneficial results in June, as your hard work is rewarded with some blooming dahlias in late June and early July, versus the month of August, September and early October.
The aforementioned has to be a labor of love and is certainly not for everyone. The dahlia tuber must be potted in soil/potting mix in late March (If you live in New England) and placed near a light source indoors. After the threat of frost has passed (usually after Memorial Day), you can proceed to place your maturing dahlia specimens into their new outdoor garden environment (some specimens are already one to two feet tall at this point).
Once accomplished, your newly planted dahlias will reward you with a festival of non-ending blooms and color through the summer and into late fall. Some dahlia specimens attain heights of four to six feet. You may find a great variety of dahlia varieties through mail order catalogues or your local gardening center. Upon the first or second frost, when the dahlias get spanked by Mother Nature (You can discern the remnants of a hard frost upon the dahlias), you may proceed to dig up the tubers and cut away the remaining green foliage. The dahlias must then be washed, cleaning away the affixed soil and then dried. After allowing the dahlias to dry (best outdoors), you may find a cool darker environment for their winter nap.
Some gardeners suggest paper bags and cardboard boxes. I actually prefer milk crates but obviously you can employ a variety of containers to accomplish the task. The dahlias enjoy a winter environment of about 45 degrees and constant darkness is preferred. I find the ordinary house basement suitable for dahlia storage.
Check on the dahlias after storage of a week or more. If you notice any rot on the tubers, remove immediately. This is a cancer, if left unchecked, that will insidiously consume and destroy the tubers.
If you follow these easy steps, you may find yourself to be a disciple of the Dahlialama, as dahlias truly provide the most bang for the buck during the summer growing season.
Remember: BLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
The Dahlialama
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