I hope they came with a label indicating expected height! If you bought something that's going to grow up to six feet high you also need to add in a tall stake 'now'. Sturdy, please, because your dahlia will throw up a lot of stems. If you already grow potatoes - same sort of soil and conditions: good soil that holds moisture but doesn't stay soggy; good sunlight, and some wind shelter for tall plants. So long as you don't get late frosts in your area - about a month before the first 'innocent' sprouts show through. When they start flowering - keep them dead-headed. Take off the finished flowers. It's easy to tell the difference: buds are round and finished flowers are pointed. When you do, check further down the stem to where it branches and you'll likely see more small buds forming. If you don't mind the seedlings - leave the heads to go brown and rustly, falling apart as they age. The seeds are slight and papery. They won't come true from seed but you can get some interesting results. It takes about a year before the tuber gets bigger than, say, a golf ball. If you don't get hard frosts that actually freeze the earth for days (more like little surface crispies) then you can leave them in the garden for over winter. Just cover over with a good helping of compost and trim off the frost-smitten stalks to keep the garden tidy. If you do get killer frosts - lift them just after the first frost has turned the foliage to mush, shake off most of the dirt, leave them in a dry no-freeze place to dry off and put them where you won't forget them next year. Beware of mousies, earwigs and sowbugs while they're stored. They don't eat much...The tubers should be fine if the wounds can dry off before replanting. PS usually plant them flat like a hand. As you got a clump there would have been something looking like a central stalk. That way is 'up'.

Once the turnips get going they may shade out the bok choi, but it will be an interesting race to watch. When I grew Tokyo Cross they took off quickly after they got more like 10 inches tall. Keep the soil moist, and they should plump up soon. Pull them when they are the size of a golf ball, because they may bolt if the weather turns warm. They're so mild and juicy that you can eat them raw. Here is a link that might be useful: my website

I don't know of home gardeners who grow other "bulb" plants from seed. But there are lots of tubers/bulbs that you can buy, and then lift in the fall for storage, though if you can grow a coconut palm, most of them - including dahlias, you probably don't have to lift, unless you are going to divide them. Many people in zone 8 in the US only dig their Dahlias every couple of years to divide the tubers. There is a Bulb forum on GW - I would ask this question there if you really want to start from seed.

We brought some of both to the last one, and do plan on bringing at least some glads again in the fall. I didn't think they'd go, but we gave away every single one. I have what looks like two different types in my yard now; one is huge and the fullest I've ever seen, and the others are much smaller, daintier, and all white, rather than multi-colored. The funny part is that they are all from the same package, planted at the same time in the same spot. Hmmm...