Storage can be tricky with dahlias, and the work involved in digging/storing is cited as the main reason why folks don't bother grow them. As is anything, it is important to find a way that is within your tolerance level of work-to-enjoyment ratio. One casual gardener I know had kept her washed dahlia clumps in paper grocery bags, tops folded, placed in a single row within a cardboard box. She misted the outside of the bags with water once a week during winter. Result? A bit wrinkled with dehydration, but tons of sprouts from each clump. Tough to divide clumps in the spring, so her husband chopped off sprouts with as much tuber as he could, which wasn't much. Not ideal results, but they were happy with the survival rate, and felt that multiple sprouts per clump going into the ground was good. One oldtimer casual gardener had always wrapped each unwashed clump in a single newspaper sheet, and popped it into an open plastic grocery bag. Stored them in his root cellar, and chopped them in half the following spring. He swore by it... I know a couple casual gardeners that covers their unwashed clumps in dirt-floor cellars/greenhouse with potting mix. The clumps don't really go dormant, but growth slows down substantially. The added protection keeps them from freezing or drowning with too much rain/snow water. Notice how many times I refer to the 'casual gardener.' This is someone that often doesn't care as much about variety name, or about getting as many tubers off each clump as possible, and is often thrilled to just have as many plants the following year with minimal work and money. Keeping the clumps intact and not getting as many new plants in the spring tends to work best for these folks. Or... not worrying about digging/storing at all is a possible solution, and simply purchasing new ones each year as one does annual flowers is a major de-stressor. Any plants that come up on their own is a bonus. The serious dahlia grower is typically obsessed with correctly labeling each variety, and tries to maximize the amount of viable tubers off each clump. The extras are planted for profit, sold or donated/gifted. These growers normally divide the clumps in the fall when the eyes are the most visible on the tubers, and takes great care in packing the tubers into some material (peat, vermiculite, perlite, wood chips, etc) or wrapping each individual tuber in saran wrap. Serious growers often derive almost as much enjoyment in the storage/prestarting process as in the blooms themselves, making dahlias a year-round hobby with skills learned through trial & error. In reality, there are folks that can identify with both casual and serious growers, and are somewhere in-between. But understanding the basic differences may help you choose some methods to start with, instead of feeling vaguely guilty for not doing dahlias 'right.' The only 'wrong' way to do dahlias is to stop trying because it all seems too hard. What's the fun in that?

I've tried storing dahlias in peat moss inside loosely closed plastic bags in unheated garages with varying success. Last winter I tried a method new to me, which was to cover my dahlia bed (after a freeze in the fall) with about two feet of dried leaves, leaving the dahlia tubers in place where they grew. Then I covered the leaves with a large tarp. I weighted the edges of the tarp with stones large enough to keep our vigorous Colorado winds from pulling it off. The dahlia bed is about seven feet wide by twenty-five feet long and holds about 30 to 35 dahlias during growing season. I got 100% survival, and they were all in perfect condition when I dug them this spring in early April. We didn't have a terribly severe winter, but we had a number of days where the minimum dipped below zero and stayed there for a couple of days. We also had pretty good snow cover when most of the cold weather occurred, so that may have helped, too. I did the same thing with my garden crop of carrots and beets, and they survived very well. One of the dahlia clumps not only survived the winter, but also survived being overlooked at digging time and run over with my rototiller! I wouldn't advise doing this in an area where you are troubled with voles. They would probably devour a dahlia crop in short order. We have the usual grey house mouse around in liberal numbers, but they didn't bother the dahlias or the root crops. In a colder climate than northern Colorado, one might need to put on a slightly deeper cover of leaves. I'm convinced that this is the way for me to store my dahlias.

Hi! I'm a flower farmer by trade. A general rule for when to purchase bulbs/tubers/etc. Is once the current crop is finishing up blooming/ producing, it's time to order new stock to the upcoming year! Sought after varieties sell out FAST! Check out Summer Dreams Dahlia farm, The Farm @ Oxford, Shady Grove gardens. Floret flowers also lists US farms selling tubers, as well, on one of her blog posts. Could also check the slowflowers directory of flower farmers. I believe there is a search function. Hope that helps! For landscape plantings, I would space them out more. But for production here on our tiny urban farm we grow everything with very tight spacing. My dahlia rows are 4' wide by 60' long. Tubers are planted on about 15" centers in an offset pattern. I have about 160 per row, give or take. Ours require 2 layers of horizontal netting for support, and T-posts every 8ft. We strategically fertilize, prune, and irrigate to ensure high production for such intensive plantings. I find dahlias to be extremely easy to grow, and think you should go for it! Bloomingbulb has some pretty good deals right now to try out some , but those will be imported stock so be aware of what that means. Happy growing!

Coincidentally, my grocery store also had their display up today, and today was my monthly shopping trip (COVID has changed the way I do things a lot). I walked out with five new dahlia. I'll find homes. The freesia and ranunculus I picked up...there's always a home for everything. Somewhere. I start my old dahlia and new in pots every year, about four weeks before the "absolute guarantee end of frost" to give them a head start. It works great. With so little time in pots, I just give them whatever's on-hand and whatever soil I have left-over by that time. Average last frost for me is April 20th, but I won't plant the dahlia until May 1st at the earliest in the most protected parts of the beds, and May 10th in most of the rest for warmer soil. As noted, just lop off anything broken or nasty looking. Damp the soil, you don't need to soak it. And be patient. Some are morning-birds and shoot out in days. Some will take a while. Taller dahlia do benefit from being staked or, if you're lazy like I am, being planted in tomato cages. Shorter ones don't care. Not recommended but if you have to...: Don't push it too far and keep an eye on the soil and air temperatures. https://www.greencastonline.com/tools/soil-temperature You can cheat a little bit by using a sunny southern bed with a dahlia--the "formal" soil temp may not be quite sixty, but the temperature there will be, and an already-sprouted dahlia won't stop growing just because it's a little chilly (these are my "May 1" planted dahlia). Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. They'll slow, stall, and wait, but they won't die unless temperatures fall to frost. Consequently, my mailbox dahlia tends to be a bit late and slow, but since it was already 2' tall when I planted it, OK (my May 10 dahlia--soil's still a little cool, but not too far off by then).