Hi, As you can see, I'm in zone 4. I still have snow outside and don't plant out cannas until late May after the last frost (sometimes not until June if I'm busy) my canna usually sprout this time every year...right now they are over a foot high. They are in a bucket of soil in the basement. Not to worry...I just keep them there until I'm ready to plant. kim

I share your frustration--I have never had trouble with squirrels like this year. Here is what I have done: Bot and sprayed "RO-PEL. I spray in the evening because I do not want the squirrels to see me doing the spraying. I have no idea why the contents work, but I admit the next morning there was not a squirrel in sight. However, as the day wore on they did return. It has certainly helped. Deer Off Receipe: from letters from readers in Backyard Magazine. This has proven very helpful with squirrels. Beat together 1 eqq, 1/2 cup of milk,and 1 Tablespoonful of cooking oil. Add 1 tablespoonful of dish soap. then add enough water to make a gallon of liquid. NEVER SPRAY "DRY" PLANTS. Spray plants every two weeks or after rain. DO NOT SPRAY ON EDIBLES. Store any left over material in a closed jar. NOW MY SUGGESTIONS: To the above mixture, add 3 teaspoons of garlic, and 3 teaspoons of cayenne pepper. I have tried this, and am having excellent results deterring squirrels. WARNING: THIS LIQUID CONCOCTION HAS A VERY STRONG ODOR. MIX WITH THE WINDOWS OPEN. I have heard of adding mint to the mixture, and, I have also heard of adding mint plants in and arround your flowers but have not tried either. Another person suggested adding crushed Red Pepper in and around the plants. I will try this shortly. I wish you every success!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you try it, I'd like to hear how you made out. In your return message to me, in the subject area, kindly add the word "GardenWebber". This will keep your e-mail to me out of my junk pile. THANK YOU.

Hi Poochella! As the say seeing is believing! I hope my photos will be as impressive when I get around to posting? I wrote the below and was ready to paste before I saw your 2nd reply with photos. Jim Hi jroot and Poochella and of course All! Thanks for your replies. I sort of thought someone would think I was not serious about the 8' tall Dahlia plants because Ive never seen them before either. But it is the truth as Poochella said. I candidly thought I was doing something wrong. But I will say this; my wife thinks their beautiful and likes looking out the window at them, plus my next door neighbor told my daughter when she sits on her patio she feels like shes at a park. Im so happy we missed the frost of Sat morning 9/30, here in the Syracuse NY area as I have a brother from Binghamton NY, actually Conklin which is 90 miles S of Syracuse who will be visiting this coming weekend. He too has never seen 8'ers. Amazingly with a 1½ degree southerly latitude difference between his home and ours, his area is classified as Zone 4a/b where ours is Zone 5a. So that could possibly be a great deal to cause the tallness factor. Longer warmth and as much as a 2 to 3 week more of growing season can make a big difference Im sure. I gave him a tuber this Spring but his never materialized to that height. I just went out to measure what I think is the tallest and it does measure just shy of 8', and Im sure with the temps in the low 50's to middle and upper 70's on a couple of days this week they'll reach beyond that height. I will get a couple of photos, hopefully today. Another thing I would like to point out is without trying to embellish is, first, jroot like you this is a favorite Forum. The learning content is great and the photos are exhilarating, and Im envious of the photography. To be so gifted. Second, as to the tall growth. I learned after the fact that its not so good to fertilize or should I say over fertilize. I'm sure it came via this Forum. Well, for the past two years Ive taken fresh horse manure, mixed it in a 5-gal pail until it was broken down and then added more until I had the pail almost full of manure. I then put this in my six cu ft construction wheel barrel and added collected rainwater. I fill the barrel at least twice and get possibly as much as 50 gals of liquid that I strain back into 5 gal pails. I also add five tablespoons of Miracle Grow to each pail. (Talk about over fertilization!) Then with a watering can I pour at the base of each plant and generally have enough left over and pour over the plant itself. I did this three times during the growing season. One thing Ive recently noticed as I pass a few properties where Dahlias are visibly growing, is the leaf structure from the stem base ½ way up on many or most plants have already turned brown and crumbly dead looking. I have very little to no brown on my leaf structure. The same areas of growing but why the difference? Is it the soil PH or the rich mixture? I have not a phantom of an idea. And 3rdly I have to add I enjoy reading the posts from this Forums Group. As much as I hate the thought of being just a few weeks away from Winter where our average snowfall is over 100", I cant wait to get caught up on the Groups Tips and Success after blowing out the driveway. Believe me, Id rather be Gardening, and the Gardening Forum is the closest I can get :>) Jim

If one uses peat moss to store tubers, you should not put them in cardboard boxes as the the boxes wick the moisture from the peat moss and then the tubers. Had you used peat moss in plastic bags and loosely tied the them shut, the moisture level would be the same as when you put them in the bag. When you use vermiculite, normally you use no water as the vermiculite holds moisture(that is why they add it to soil mixes). The additional water is too wet for the dahlias. The most often used successful method to store dahlia tubers is vermiculite and plastic bags and no water. The next best may be wrapping dry tubers in plastic wrap and the next best is the peat moss, if you can keep the moisture levels correct. The same goes for wood shavings and again, one would not moisten the wood shavings, and you must use plastic bags. The plastic bags create a vapor barrier that keeps them from drying out if the humidity is low or rotting if the humidity is high. Remember that commercial growers store thousands of tubers every year. You should be able to store a few successfully.