Organic gardener growing food and flowers, lovin' pollinators and birds.

An alternative way to store dahlia tubers over winter




I love to grow dahlias, but I do not have the ideal set up to overwinter them.

Living in Connecticut means that I need to dig up my dahlia tubers after the first frost kills the flowers and foliage and store them above ground over the winter. This practice ensures that I will have dahlias to grow next year, because if I leave them in the ground, they will rot.

Most Northeastern gardeners simply dig up the tubers and store them in a basement over the winter. However, I don't have a basement. One year I tried to keep them in my detached (uninsulated) garage, and I ended up losing all of them due to the extreme winter cold. The next year, I tried to store them in my back hallway, but they were too close to the furnace, which meant a combination of not going dormant and drying out from the heat. I lost those as well.

This is one of those times when it is good that I am stubborn, because the next year, just on a whim, I dug up my dahlias and left them in a cardboard box in the front hallway, the coldest portion of my home. I checked them periodically over the winter and misted them with water from a spray bottle if it looked like they were getting too dry (no more than three times). By the time I was starting my seeds indoors, it was time to start my dahlias — and guess what — it worked!

While the box of dahlias gets a little bit larger each year, I now have an adapted method to store my dahlias tubers safely over the winter. This method has worked for the past two years, and this past week I dug up this year's tubers to do it all over again.

Now I just need a bigger box.





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Floral Friday: Nov 24


What a week of extremes. The week began with a dusting of snow, which was a reminder of how little time there is left to settle the garden for the winter.

We still get some warm days in the 50s, but overall the colder weather is slowly settling in, which means all the flowers and perennials have entered into hibernation. I took off from work this week, and even though I was battling a chest cold, I still managed to dig up my dahlia tubers for winter storage. (I have a special way to store mine since I do not have a basement or an insulated garage to store them in. Click here to read about my process.) I've also been checking my November garden chores to keep on track.

When I can I've been planting my spring-blooming bulbs, and it has helped that I bought a nifty drill attachment to help me plant the 860 bulbs I ordered: tulips, daffodils, chionodoxa, winter aconite, and a bonus of 100 free crocuses, which brings the total to 960 bulbs to plant. (The project is about halfway complete.)


Now since my garden is in its off season, the focus returns to inside the house. This week, my Christmas cactus is blooming and I have a pretty new aloe which I bought after reading about all the benefits of this houseplant. (Did you know one single aloe plant is equal to nine other air-purifying plants?)



It's also time to plant amaryllis, and I have a nice double-flowering variety I bought to grow inside this winter.

What is blooming in your garden, or inside your home?
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Floral Friday: Nov. 10

It's hard to believe that it is November because the garden is still going strong.

'Campfire Glow' Chrysanthemum.

'Easy Does it' Rose. 
The ornamental peppers in my cobalt blue pots have been changing colors. This one is 'Chilly Chili' ornamental pepper, also an AAS Winner. They are pairing nicely with my red salvia that I grew from seed.


The changing color on my blueberry bushes makes for interesting foliage in the front garden.


The 'Lemon Tree' nicotiana that I grew from seed is still blooming. I love the delicate blossoms.


My new garden statue looks like she was always a part of the front garden.


My Hollywood Hibiscus spent a few nights in the garage when we had sudden dips in temperature. They will be headed inside for their winter stay soon.


The 'Endless Summer' hydrangea is blooming. Apparently my soil pH has changed, because the blossoms used to be light blue.



Yellow corydalis pops up all over the back garden. I am fine with wherever it chooses to go.


I have a new addition to the back garden, since I was unable to pass up a sale. This Japanese maple will look great in a few year's time. Now it just needs to make it through the winter (and past the voles).


The nasturtiums in the Eco Garden System are too pretty to eat.


I've been covering my Eco Garden System with a frost blanket overnight to keep my late-season cool crops safe from frost.


What's growing in your garden this week?

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Use these plant varieties to extend autumn indoors

Instead of worrying about raking leaves or cleaning out gutters, focus on the plants that are still blooming or can be repurposed for long-lasting decorations. Even though we are halfway through autumn, there are still many natural elements to bring indoors and enjoy. Here are some ideas to get you started — better yet, these arrangement ideas won't take a long time to create.



Think miniature 
Highlight fall blooms by using small bud vases, as seen above. This year I have been slowly purchasing small vases from second hand shops as I find them. Instead of creating one giant bouquet for my kitchen, this week I brought out my collection and let each petite vase highlight a garden treasure. Everything shown above was brought in from my garden earlier this week, and if I had put them in one giant vase, many of the smaller elements would have been lost.

Here's what I used:

  • Orange vase: Leaves from high bush blueberry, Global Warming Mum 'Autumn Moon' and 'Campfire Glow' mum.
  • Clear vase: 'Easy Does It' Rose, high bush blueberry leaves and 'Lemon Tree' Nicotiana.
  • Blue vase (smallest): Zinnias and winterberry. 
  • Blue vase (medium): Global Warming Mum 'Autumn Moon' and yellow corydalis.
  • Blue vase (larger): Zinnias, calibrachoa, mum.

Of course, miniature pumpkins and gourds are reliable standbys to dress up windowsills and mantles, inside or outside.



Long-lasting decor
Some clippings have a longer shelf life than traditional floral arrangements. I reached out to Jeanine Standard from Proven Winners for suggestions on fall decor and there were so many beautiful choices to choose from!

One of the highlights included two ways to use the blooms from Little Lime® hydrangeas, which is a paniculata variety. Little Lime is a Proven Winners variety that is smaller (3 to 5 feet high) than its sibling Limelight (up to 8 feet). The flowers from this floriferous shrub are long-lasting. Given full sun, this hydrangea variety will reward the gardener with a multitude of blooms, which start out green and fade to pink and burgundy – perfect for autumn arrangements. To make a hydrangea wreath (as shown below), you’ll need a wire wreath frame and florist wire to tie the stems to the frame with. It's a fairly simple and quick process. (To see how it is assembled, click here.)




Go big

Looking for a larger floral display? Consider this combination of Little Lime hydrangea, wheat grass and a vase that looks like tree bark.



One thing I really like about this idea from Proven Winners is that vase really stands out, and it utilizes the different textures of the plant materials. Craft stores and even Amazon have many bark-vase options to choose from.

Another flower that provides an impact are dahlias! Snip dahlia blossoms and bring them indoors before the first frost destroys the flowers. They make gorgeous arrangements on their own or paired with other late-blooming fall flowers, such as mums or berries from ilex or calibrachoa.



Another colorful shrub to consider are the red and yellow berries from various winterberries (ilex). These berries are found on plants now and are long-lasting indoors and outdoors (that is, until the birds find them outside).

If you've had enough of fall and are ready to bring on the holidays, the below combination of Proven Winners Berry Heavy® Gold Ilex verticillata with Polar Gold™ Thuja occidentalis will do the trick.


I love how this arrangement can grace a Thanksgiving table and then be used to usher in the holiday season. This combination could be used in outdoor planters as well.

Now that the ideas are percolating, head outside and see what you can create from your garden. I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below.


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