Make sure your Dahlia’s do not freeze in the garden, this is the time to take them out. In areas without frost you can also give them a mulch cover and leave the Dahlia tubers in the soil for the winter, but this can course loss of some tubers, specially in wet winters they might rot. My experience that you can best dig them and store them on a frost-free location.

Some gardeners rinse the tubers off completely before they store them away, but I don’t really like to do that. I would rather just shake the sand off them and then let them dry for a few days. When they are half dry, you can start packing them.

Make sure to first remove the stems until a few centimeters above the tuber: when you leave the stems too long, the green parts can start to rot.

Storage of Dahlia tubers

During storage please make sure you pack the tubers properly. Put them in a carton or tray, rolled in old newspaper or covered with wood chips. These materials protect the tubers from drying out. A Dahlia can dehydrate during storage and the tubers can completely shrivel.

You also can roll them in paper and store them in plastic bags but when you do so please do make sure some fresh air can enter the bag. At the end of April, beginning of May when the change of severe night frosts is gone you can plant the Dahlia’s again.

Once you dig the Dahlia’s you as well might plant some spring flowering bulbs on the Dahlia spots. Large Allium are perfect for the location where you dug your large Dahlia’s. Or try one of the many other spring flowering bulbs, there still is a nice assortment available in the Fluwel web shop.

Best regards,

Carlos van der Veek