Hi Alyrics, sorry so delayed. I think of all the time I could save every single Fall! But I left a few clumps in the ground from last year and they are either mush or very un-nice looking. I much prefer dealing with digging in the Fall regardless of the labor. Somewhere in this forum I've mentioned my 6-7 yr old clump (one I don't care about) left in the ground that long. To make more space this year, I dug it up anticipating a gigantic mess. Not to be: it was quite small, less than 10 tubers, a few rotted. I was stunned because this is a super tubermaking variety in most cases. So I guess, the 'huge monster clump' warning doesn't always apply for those lucky enough to leave them in ground, but it does in many cases. Organic Janice, another easy way to see if you have good tuber eyes or not is to put a little handful of damp potting soil in a sandwich baggie. Not too wet, just enough water to stick the soil together a bit if squeezed. Plop in your tuber/parts slightly planted, leave the open baggies in bright light, near warmth, and watch for eyes to pop. Some are very slow, some will show up in a few days, duds will show nothing no matter how long you wait. If they do, then you can go on to pot them. If I plant too early in our cold wet Springs, I am guaranteed to lose tubers to rot. Perhaps that's what happened to yours planted early? Great job on the giant hacking of the clump into quarters! What sort of tool did you use for the surgery?

poochella stated a good idea...unless you love growing your own, it's a fair amount of work, it needs to be a labor of love....I do think you could get away with half or less of the 125 tubers...I don't think "poms" would be the way you want to go...I don't think they hold up as well and it takes a lot to make a nice visible center piece ....your "M" 4in. or less and your "BB" 4-6 inch flowers plus what ever else you want to throw in your center piece....ie feathers,ferns..zinnias.......Your dahlias should be blooming at their best by your wedding and if you pinch back your central stems you should have a nice full plant...half or a dozen flowers per plant....if you do decide to grow your own "dahlias" I would suggest you look up your local dahlia club, I know there must be one near by and check to see when their dahlia tuber sale is...most clubs have their sale coming up the first part of April...you will find the tubers at the sale are probably half the price or less of any tuber you will find in a catalog or store....if you know a grower, talk with them, a lot of times they will have extras or seconds which will produce great flowers...in tubers it's not the size, one the size of your little finger is just as good as one the size of your fist, just make sure it has a good eye so it can see to grow (plant addict joke, but true)..best of luck to you and yours...

I am a 'mass-production' oriented gardener.For me, that means that when I do a task, like dividing plants, I like to do a lot of it at the same time.So last month,when I found myself dividing, for an upcoming plant swap and for our own gardens, I devised this method for retrofitting a LARGE bin that could hold-over/grow-on many divisions at once. We have a number of red BJ's rectangular bins (they come w/lids)approx.24"W x 32"L X 8"D?) that we had bought in the past for winter-holding cannas,dahlias,etc. in peat moss. I realized that if I drilled some small holes in those same bins,they could serve double duty- both in the winter AND during the growing season. the holes would provide drainage for holding large numbers of divisions in the growing season, and, because they were small, would not allow much, if any, peat moss to pass through during the winter tuber-hold-overs. SO, I used a portable rechargable drill and drilled into the bin SIDES, about 1/2-1" above the bin bottom, a line of 3 holes (they are about 1/8"/1/4" diameter): one at each end and one in the middle- of each side.IT CAN NOW RAIN ALL IT WANTS (as it has done these last 2 days in the greater Boston area)and my wet-peat moss -or- potting- soil divisions will not drown. We were easily able to peel off the offensive 'BJ'S' labels from these bin sides. A plus with this system is that the bins can be stacked, criss-cross-like, still allowing light in, if you temporarily need to save space .With the same idea in mind, but for smaller bins, I use what are called in the trade- 'Fish bins',rectangular white semi-opaque bins approx. 17"L x 12"W X 5"d . I have a catering business, so I get my fish delivered in these, but you can often buy them cheaply from fish-store vendors who always have way more than they need. We no longer have stacks of round plant pots(we recycle them at the dump or give them away). Of course i still use SOME round plastic plant pots, but for me,the rectangular bins are just much more efficient for most things: carrying and filling, holding over/storing, transporting. They are also great for sturdily , efficiently and cleanly holding many nursery plant pots. I take empty bins like these on nursery-buying trips, leaving the newly-purchased plants in them for efficient storage.(Sure beats those flimsy plastic basket-weave-like plant trays)! And when i'm ready to plant those new nursery plants, or held-over divisions, these plant-filled bins are light weight and easy to carry out into the garden. Hope some of you find these ideas helpful.

Hi Mindy, Do you have any photos? I think I can picture what you are describing. You get such satisfaction when you try something new that really works. This year I upgraded to perma-nest trays for my seedlings instead of those black cheap trays from the discount stores. I am so happy I did! They are strong and don't bend when you hold a whole tray of plants and they don't develop pin hole leaks like the others tend to do. Even more satisfying is when you resuse something to suit a new purpose like you have. It is good to try new things each year. Here is a link that might be useful: Perma Nest Trays...