06/04/2026
A (mostly) successful dahlia experiment:
We were sick of digging tubers and out of storage space last fall. We had planted a row of random excess tubers and decided they were perfect for an experiment. Every year, dahlias pop up from tubers we missed or broke off, so it SHOULD be possible to intentionally overwinter the tubers in the ground in our zone.
The plants got mowed down, topped with several inches of leaves, and covered with landscape fabric. This spring, roughly 65% of the plants came back…healthier than ever and already knee high.
In December, Jennie Love of the No-Till Flowers Podcast had an episode ( #46) about overwintering dahlias and confirmed our suspicions: Keeping the tubers (mostly) dry was likely the most important factor to success.
We’ll make some tweaks the next time around, but I’m very curious to track productivity and the ability of the plants to handle stress. We’ve had a few rough dahlia years, so fingers crossed!