Dahlia Disaster

Published on by Catherine

Six on Saturday: The Before, The Now and The Future

Today, it’s six images—from the past, from the present, and from what is yet to come.

Each year it’s the same – I pot up the dahlia tubers and look forward to the day when the garden will be vibrant with the colour, shape, and form of spectacular dahlia blooms! Like many others in this country, the miserable summer weather of 2024 was a challenge for plants. The abundance of snails here had only one aim – to eat everything in the garden. However, it wasn’t all gloom, the dahlias bloomed but did fall short of expectations because of an excess of rain, wind damage and snails with their insatiable appetites. But as every gardener, amateur or professional will testify, there’s always the hope of a better growing season one year ahead!

At the first frosts, the tubers were lifted, cleaned, drained upside down in the greenhouse and stored in open crates in the garage. l checked them just before Christmas and they were fine, but another look a few weeks ago revealed a sorry sight. Every dahlia tuber was mouldy and rotten and every last one had to be binned.

Dahlia “Cafe au Lait’ Image from 2023. The top image was from 2022.

I ordered new tubers but made the decision to stick to shorter patio varieties, maybe just for this year. The shorter stems should be less susceptible to wind damage, but I’ve probably made it easier for the snails to reach the top of the plants. No, forget that; they can climb faster than I can get to the top of the stairs in the house. I’ll try the flour/yeast method that Jim of Garden Ruminations shared last weekend, with my fingers crossed.

My heart tells me that I’ll long for the taller, large-flowered and more glamorous dahlias and expect they’ll be dropping into my shopping cart once again, somewhere in the future.

The new tubers arrived last Saturday afternoon, and they’ve been stored in the cool, dry garage until late March or early April when they will be potted under cover to start them off.

A welcome delivery of tubers.

I can’t use the supplier’s online images for obvious copyright reasons, but I’ve added links to the website if you’re interested to see any of them. (I have no affiliation to this website, links posted for visual information only).

An afterthought was to order two I had grown in 2022 and they are on their way from a different supplier. The first is D. ‘Art Nouveau’ and the second is the equally lovely D. ‘Art Deco’. Knowing what these dahlias look like, I feel a bit happier about the short dahlias now!

Dahlia Art Nouveau 2022
Dahlia Art Deco 2022

I might put a few into plastic pots and sink them into the borders, where they will be at the mercy of slugs & snails. The remainder will go into decor pots and sit either in the sunshine on the deck or on the front doorsteps. That decision remains with our summer weather and whether the armies of snails in the garden can be curtailed! I might give my grandchildren a little bucket each and send them on a snail hunt, with prizes at the end, of course! They will love that. 😂

Destruction. Can this be curtailed in 2025?

Will you be growing dahlias in 2025? Do you have any firm favourites that you would recommend?

Six on Saturday is hosted by Jim and you can link to his site to see what others are growing, or just dreaming about. Feel free to join in!

Catherine x

25 thoughts on “Dahlia Disaster”

  2. Very pretty flowers from the past and beautiful promises for the future. I’m very late because I have not even started my purchases yet. I already have to check my old tubers to see if they are viable for the season; today’s job?

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    1. Thanks, Fred. I hadn’t planned to buy any more tubers this year, but I was suddenly forced into action! Yes, today’s job, but I’m sure yours will be perfect, just like that massive squash you’ve been wintering in your loft! 😁

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  3. After a few bad years in a row with Dahlias (most barely flowered and some didn’t flower at all) I have gone off them rather. However, when I see photos like these I’m tempted to try again. A lovely selection (thanks for the handy links – I was about to look them up individually using the labels!) ‘Art Deco’ is a stunner. Slugs and snails were a menace last year.

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    1. Temptation is all around in the gardening world, Graeme! I say every year that I’m not going to sow seeds ever again – and I always end up with more than I can sow! Too many lovely varieties, and it’s the same with dahlias.

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  5. Last winter I lost all my stored dahlia and every single one I had left in the ground survived! Mind you, we are a lot further south than you are. All mine are still in the soil so it remains to be seen if my gamble has paid off. They are all large specimens so fingers crossed. I wish you lots of luck with this years harvest.

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    1. Good luck with your dahlias this year. If you can overwinter them in the ground, that’s a huge bonus. No fussing and bigger, stronger plants each year. It’s too wet here as well as being too cold so sadly they don’t have much of a chance.

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  6. Good luck with the new purchases. I have to say I have pretty much given up on dahlias. I have one that I leave in the ground and so far it has survived – three years on from growing from seed. In the past I have wrapped stored tubers in newspapers, but I’m sure it’s more to do with them being really dry to start with and then the environment not being damp. Not much chance of that with our increasingly wet winters here!

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  7. I absolutely love dahlias, but do not grow them. I am lazy – the idea of having to dig things up and coddle them and have them go mouldy anyway is too much for me, so I appreciate everyone who does grow them. I once visited Butchart Gardens when they had a spectacular display. I look forward to future pictures of yours!

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  9. We all have to keep hoping, and you certainly have not allow setbacks to deter you for growing a new set of Dahlias this year. Good luck with those.

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  10. There appears to be a lot of us who love Dahlias, but don’t grow them. I stopped when not only S&S took a shine to them, but also earwigs. I do however have some of the patio ones, which I grew from seed. I did remove the tubers in the autumn and they are somewhere in my conservatory, but where? As it’s not particularly dry in there I have to wonder what state they are in. One thing I love about Dahlias though is that they are soooo photogenic.

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    1. Earwigs are horrible! When you spot them in the flowers they’re much harder to catch than slugs n snails. I hope you find the tubers that you’ve stored in the conservatory. Being photogenic is the main attraction for me! 😁

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  11. Well, I am glad you were not put off by last year’s weather Catherine! You have made some lovely choices again. 😃 Like you, I struggled with the slugs and snails with mine and swore I would not buy any ever again. And guess what, I bought some! LOL! A good friend helped me narrow it down to just two: Cabana Banana and Mango Madness – great names too! (Also from FG). Let’s hope for a better year. 😃

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  13. Oh, sorry to hear about the mold, but you certainly have some exciting additions/replacements. It will be fun to watch your blog to see how they fare this growing season. Lovely images from previous years! They are amazing blooms, aren’t they?

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