Monday, January 13, 2020

Can Dahlias grow in Central Oregon?

Growing any tender tuber in the high desert is always a bit of a challenge. The temperature can plummet at any time of the year causing frost damage, or a sudden hailstorm in spring can mar the leaves and buds causing unsightly brown spots.   In spite of weather restrictions, dahlias can be delightful and fun to grow if you take a few precautions to ensure success.
Plant quality tubers in mid April to May depending on what area you live.  Redmond, Madras and Prineville are at lower elevations so planting can happen earlier than Bend or Sisters. Mulch the ground after planting until you are sure all hard frosts are past.
Planting in full sun with no tree overhang is also necessary.  I made the mistake of planting what I thought were shorter varieties behind a small apricot tree and the dahlias grew up through the branches and vanished in the thick foliage.
Planting:
When planting, make sure to put a sturdy 3-4’ stake in the ground and then place the tuber with the eye pointing upward about 6” from the stake.  There are two reasons to put a stake in the ground before planting the tuber.  The tuber will double or triple in size over the growing season and if you attempt to stake it later, you can damage the fleshy roots. Believe me, the second reason is that once they take off in the summer, you will need the stake to tie the dahlia to so the heavy flower heads don’t cause the entire plant to flop over.
Due to the shorter growing season, choose smaller to medium size varieties rather than the gigantic dinner plate size that grow up to 6’.  These will never make it to the bloom stage on the high desert.
My favorite company is Swan Island Dahlias out of Canby Oregon. Their annual catalog and website lists the size and bloom time so you can choose the best dahlia for your garden space.
Lifting and storage:
You don’t want to leave your dahlias in the ground over the winter.  Once your dahlias receive that first killing frost in the fall that turns the foliage black, cut the stems to the ground and dig them up.
That tiny single tuber that you planted in the spring will now be quite a bit bigger.  Cut them apart making sure you have at least one eye per tuber.  Swan Island Dahlias has a great tutorial on their website and if you buy from them, they include details in your packaging.
Proper storage is critical to the survival of your dahlias.  Do not store dahlias in an unheated shed or barn for the winter.  They will freeze and turn to mush.  If you have a garage attached to the house or a cool basement or even a mud room with a cool dark closet, this is a better choice.  The next thing is to make sure they don’t dry out.  It is very dry in Central Oregon and if you toss your tubers in a box and forget about them all winter they will end up shriveled up and worthless.
After digging them up, set them out in a protected place out of the sun for a few days to dry.  After the attached soil is dry, brush it off.  Some people wash them with a spray of water and then let them dry but it isn’t absolutely necessary.  You want to remove as much of the garden soil as you can.  Layer the dry tubers in a cardboard box with peat moss or semi moist potting soil, completely covering them with at least 6” of soil.  Garden dirt is too heavy for this and also contains microbes and mold spores.  Check the tubers every month to make sure they are not drying out.  Some people dip the entire tuber in paraffin to keep them firm and hydrated.  Plastic bags are not good for storage because it will trap in too much moisture and the tubers will rot. Keep them in the dark so they don’t sprout too early.  I have a spot in my garage under a desk that stays cool from the garage floor and dark most of the time.  Next spring, check your tubers for any bad spots or mold and trim them up.  If you didn’t cut them apart in the fall, now is a great time to separate the tubers with tiny pink eyes or sprouts from any parts that look mushy or dried out.  Your dahlias are now ready to plant.  If there are little thin sprouts with leaves visible growing from the tuber please be careful when planting.  These break off easily and then you have a useless tuber that may not sprout again.  With a little care and attention to detail, in a few years you will have plenty of dahlias to share with friends and neighbors!

Monday, January 6, 2020

Hello again

Well fellow gardeners and others, I have been distracted for a few years.  There are times when life just seems to take over and before you know it, three years have flown by.  2018 was a fantastic garden year.  The deep snow of 2017-2018 caused the ground to absorb a great deal of water so when spring came finally, everything took off. We have inherited two dwarf fruit trees from the previous renter.  They were planted in 2014 or 2015 so 2018, after the snow, we had a mild spring.  The apricot tree was loaded and even though we thinned and thinned we still lost branches to the weight of the fruit.  The other tree is a white nectarine that was also loaded and lost about a third of its branched to the weight of nectarines.  It was so sad thinning out all the green little fruit!
The apricots made fantastic jam! The nectarines were delicious right off the tree.
The nectarine took a beating and lost a bunch of branches from too much fruit.
On the fence between the raised bed vegetable garden and the back yard there is a thornless blackberry vine and WOW did it produce a great deal of berries that are now made into blackberry jelly.  It was a fantastic bumper crop year.

Can Dahlias grow in Central Oregon?

Growing any tender tuber in the high desert is always a bit of a challenge. The temperature can plummet at any time of the year causing fros...