are my dahlia alive?

tmq

Out inspecting the garden today, with the signs of spring around. I planted two maxi dahlia last spring, but I'm not sure if they've survived the winter. they certainly look fairly dead.... are they likely to revive?
(I'm in dublin, near the sea, so we haven't had any particularly bad frosts.)
Otherwise I'll plant some more.

looksee

Its hard to say, usually they are lifted for the winter, but if they have not been subjected to frost they may have survived, however they may have rotted from the very wet weather we have had. Its still a bit early to say, the top growth is no indication, that would die back anyway. If you uncover the corms gently and see if they are still hard they may be ok, if they are soft or rotted then they are gone. If you think they are ok, cut the tops back to ground level anyway.

tmq

Thanks, i'll have to investigate more closely. Her'es a photo I meant to upload originally, but doesn't seem like I can tell much from that anyway....

looksee

No, the dead tops don't prove anything at all.

Supercell

Very unlikely to be dead, i never lift my dahlia as I'm close to the sea here too. The top of the plant dies back every year and in grows back every summer, give it a couple months, don't dig them up now, they are probably putting out new roots already.

lazybones32

It's too early for new shoots to be out already on dahlias but in a few more weeks there should be some movement. Unlifted dahlias take a bit longer to start than lifted ones but seeing the colour of your soil and the wall (will keep the soil warmer) indicates thatt there should be no problems - apart from slugs, who love the new shoots.
You could snap off last years stems, leaving a small bit so you know where the shoots will be coming from and get your slug-pellets, etc; ready.

tmq

Still no signs of life from the dahlia..... I've still left about 4-5 inches of last years growth on it, should I cut that back further? I'll give it a couple more weeks.

They're in a prominent part of the garden, so I'll have to replace them if they don't get their act together!

Blackie Grey

my my my dahlia

lazybones32

It's still early and it hasn't really warmed up significantly yet. I have my dahlias indoors and the shoots have just come.

Patience.

Supercell

Mine haven't got started yet OP, leave them be, will be a while yet before they'll be showing growth.

magicbastarder

i planted a few dahlia a couple of years ago. they never made it past the first winter. to be fair, i wasn't bothered digging them up to mollycoddle them over the winter.

Sgt Pepper 64

magicbastarder wrote: »

i planted a few dahlia a couple of years ago. they never made it past the first winter. to be fair, i wasn't bothered digging them up to mollycoddle them over the winter.

I do mine in pots now

I was given a beautiful dahlia 2 years ago. It was a good healthy plant with good flowers.
However it didn't flower last year or even grow last year having changed it to a bigger pot.
I removed the bulbs and root ball yesterday. I scraped a tiny bit off with my fingernail and it still looked alive.

Will the flower come back this year?

muckety

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

I do mine in pots now

Do you leave them in the pots over the winter? I've just planted up some pots and was wondering if I should lift them in the autumn and store them in the shed, or can I just leave them where they are?

gozunda

tmq wrote: »

Still no signs of life from the dahlia..... I've still left about 4-5 inches of last years growth on it, should I cut that back further? I'll give it a couple more weeks.

They're in a prominent part of the garden, so I'll have to replace them if they don't get their act together!

Don't expect to see any significant growth for another 3 or 4 weeks at least.