You should be seeing something by now. I would be tempted to carefully dig them up to check them out. Have you had a lot of rain? If so, they could be rotting.

I have a feeling you are not going to have any dahlias this year. Your dahlias should be starting to bud, even bloom by now. I would certainly contact Swan Island so that you can get advice and a guarantee of good bulbs for next year.

Did you verify that the tubers you got had eyes on them? Personally, I have had the worst luck buying tubers from mail order companies. I have been growing dahlias for about 10 years, and the best ones I get are the ones I buy from Home Depot and Lowes. I have bought from some of the best rated dahlia suppliers, and they do not grow well. I planted 14 tubers this year, and none are in bloom and at least half of them are too small at this stage to grow enough to produce blooms. And the cool spring and early summer certainly did not help.

FWIW, I had many tubers that took > 6 weeks to produce a sprout large enough to make a cutting out of. That is, many took > 6 weeks to grow 3-4" long from the tuber. Assuming you followed Swan's directions, they the bottom of your tuber is going to be ~8" below the surface. So, its not unreasonable for them not to be above ground, depending on the variety.

If the soil is loose enough near where the crown of the tuber is in the ground, then gently move it away to see if there is a growth. Once you've done that, leave the bowl there so you can track the progress.

Cheers,
Russ

You should have a lot of growth, some buds and/or blooms by this time. Maybe next year you should consider starting them indoors. I purchased two Dahlias from Swan Island this spring and started them both indoors in small pots. I planted them out in my garden in the middle of June and I have lot of blooms on both my Swan Island dahlias now. I have others too and they're doing the same thing!

Please do call Swan Island and get some advice. Good luck!

Linda

Thanks for your help and advice, everyone. I went out and dug up the tubers...lol.....there were no tubers in existence, not even the remnants of any. The green growth I THOUGHT was at least one dahlia sprouting turned out to be just a weed!

Yes, the tubers DID have eyes, and I tried hard to do what the instructions said. Not sure what I did wrong. I guess in the future I'll buy local tubers if I try dahlias again. I have to say, I've had difficulty with tulips and lilies rotting, even though I amend the soil very well and don't use high-nitrogen fertilizer.

Think I'll stick with "easy" flowers-roses, daylilies, lilies, siberian iris & other perennials/annuals. :0)

Phyl

Phyl,

Dahlias are indeed easy to grow. .... and very rewarding. However, we have had a weird spring. You mention that you lost some tulips and lilies as well from rot. This is likely what happened here. I had several dahlias that I lost also, but enough of a reserve which I had started indoors that I don't notice their loss now. It is something that sometimes happens. Don't let this slight setback turn you off of these amazing flowers.

Make sure that your soil is well drained. I have my best ones in a slightly raised bed. Originally I thought that I would raise the bed so the landscaping crew would not cut the flowers off while they cut the grass. I realize now that it was a really good idea.
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