How do dahlia tubers increase $8,000 in value over four years?
Please, explain the dahlia hype to me!
Dahlias are a 'cut and come again flower'.
What does ‘cut and come again’ mean? A ‘cut and come again’ flower will continue to produce blooms after you harvest. The more you cut or harvest your dahlias the more blooms your plant produces. When your dahlias begin producing blooms they will continue to produce blooms right up until your first fall frost date.
‘Cut and come again’ flowers are my favorite! They bloom more proficiently as the season progresses. They have a long bloom window, so you don't have to rip your crop out and plant a new crop part way through the season. They are the flower that just ‘keeps on giving’.
Dahlias produce more than beautiful blooms.
Dahlias are beautiful; there are so many different varieties and forms making them such an interesting flower. We love them because they produce absolutely beautiful blooms, but below the surface they produce so much more! While your dahlia is pumping out beautiful blooms in your garden it is also producing multiple tubers below the surface, and tubers mean more dahlias!
In the spring you will plant a single tuber and it will grow into a nice large plant producing many blooms throughout the summer. After your first fall frost you will dig up your tuber and find an entire clump of tubers which can be divided into several single tubers which can be planted, shared, or sold the following spring.
If you have never purchased dahlia tubers before you might not know that they generally range in price anywhere from $5 to $20. The dahlia pictured above is a “Peaches ‘N Cream" bloom, a single “Peaches ’N Cream" tuber generally sells for around $20, so if your plant produces 4 or 5 tubers over the summer you are up between $80 and $100. Digging dahlia tubers in the fall is a big job, but it is so exciting to see how many tubers your plants produced!
The value of your dahlia collection increases very rapidly!
If you purchase a single $12 dahlia tuber this spring what would you expect the value of your dahlia collection to be in the spring of your fourth growing season? If I told you it could easily be worth more than $8,700 by the spring of your fourth growing season would you be believe me? No jokes here, and I am happy to show you how this math checks out!
So now, you are wondering, how do I do this?
I have poured my heart into a Complete Guide to Dahlias, so please, let me walk you step-by-step through this entire process. The Complete Guide to Dahlias includes step-by-step instructions on:
- How to plant dormant tubers.
- How to wake up dormant tubers.
- How to propagate dahlias to increase your dahlia tuber stock.
- How to transplant seedlings and propagated plants.
- When, and what to fertilize dahlias with.
- How to harvest and condition dahlias.
- How and when to dig dahlia tubers.
- How to divide dahlia tuber clumps.
- How to store dahlia tubers over the winter.
- What the appropriate humidity, temperature, and storage mediums are.
- BONUS: How to Grow Dahlias Cheat Sheet
- BONUS: a list of Canadian dahlia suppliers
