I’ve been growing dahlias since 2025. I’ve learned a lot over the last two growing seasons! The main thing I’ve learned is, not everything you plant will grow.

2025 Growing Season

In 2025, I started with 44 dahlia tubers. Here are the varieties that I planted after last frost:

• Jolly Bumblebee
• Arabian Nights
• Edinburgh
• Old Rose Mix
• Creme de Cassis
• Bonanza
• White Swan
• Sweet Suzanne
• Sweet Sanne
• Apricona

Some of the tubers never grew, and some grew, but never made it. Our summers get really hot and I think lack of water early on truncated some of the tubers/plants.

Overwintering

We are in Grow Zone 6a, so we have to lift our tubers or they will freeze and rot overwinter. First frost ended the season with 25 tubers. I lifted them about 14 days after first frost by excavating them like I was on an archaeological dig because the ground was hard at the time. I used a little gardening trowel.

I did not divide them. I washed them off with the hose really good and let them air dry inside the garage on the top of our little hot tub. Once they were dry (after a few days) I packed the tubers in a mix of damp coco coir and wood shavings in a plastic bag inside of a cardboard box. I kept the cardboard box in our insulated garage close to the garage doors where it gets colder than the rest of the garage.

2026 Growing Season

Almost all of the tubers made it over winter and there was very little rot. I added three varieties this year: Viking, Go Go Black, and Iced Tea. I started with 28 tubers. Some tubers never grew, and some grew, but didn’t make it due to lack of water and extreme temperatures.

I was worried that the Creme de Cassis hadn’t made it until just the other day when it bloomed and I sighed a breath of relief! It’s my favorite color! I do also love the Go Go Black.

I’m going to overwinter the same as last year, but I need to change tack about how I get the dahlias going in the spring. Small or single tubers don’t do well directly planted. I might try germinating them under grow lights to get a healthy plant growing with some roots before I plant out into the ground. I need to also try to water extra in the early part of the season to make sure the dahlias get going and get big enough before I expect them to make it a week in between watering.

Tuber Attrition

It seems I’ve been losing about half my tubers each growing season. So, I think I’m going to divide tubers when I lift them after first frost. I need to also start tagging my tubers. At first I didn’t care, but now it is turning out that it does matter to me a little bit!

The last big question is do I buy any more tubers? Dahlia tubers are expensive and when they don’t come up at all or die young, it is really frustrating. I purchased a lot of tubers in the beginning because I wanted to support Eden Brothers after Hurricane Helene.

For 2027, I might buy 3 new tubers by mail order, and then shop for deals locally. I haven’t had good luck buying tubers locally. I often don’t get the plants that were on the label, I get something else entirely! Turns out nurseries have just as much trouble labeling or keeping tubers straight on their end, too.

There are so many different beautiful varieties of dahlias and I really enjoy growing them, but it is a labor intensive and very expensive type of flower to grow. It really is its own niche of gardening.