Who thinks I did this wrong?
It took a few days (nine) for me to realize something wasn't right. My mom gave me the dahlia tubers (I've learned they're not bulbs, but tubers, like a potato) for my birthday in early March, and sometime in the last month they sprouted in the bag they came in while I had them stored in the basement. I quickly dug a few holes and stuck them in the ground. Then I started to wonder, did I plant them upside down? Are those roots I should have buried?? How could those white stringy things possibly turn into green stems with flowers on the end, like this:
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| Better Homes and Gardens |
It turns out it's not as wrong as I thought (they're not roots), but I didn't get it exactly right. After consulting a few online gardening forums, it seems I should cut those sprouts off leaving only one little stub. Multiple shoots will form, but you only want one in the end, so all the nutrients go to one plant. The white stub will then turn green with adequate light. So, I didn't actually plant them upside down, but I don't think anything good is going to come of leaving them as is. I'm afraid it might be too late, but I'll trim the shoots, and hope for the best. Otherwise, I may have to wait until next summer to see flowers like these around here.
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| Martha Stewart |
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| Martha Stewart |
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| Martha Stewart |
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| Martha Stewart |
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| A Country Farmhouse |
It took a few days (nine) for me to realize something wasn't right. My mom gave me the dahlia tubers (I've learned they're not bulbs, but tubers, like a potato) for my birthday in early March, and sometime in the last month they sprouted in the bag they came in while I had them stored in the basement. I quickly dug a few holes and stuck them in the ground. Then I started to wonder, did I plant them upside down? Are those roots I should have buried?? How could those white stringy things possibly turn into green stems with flowers on the end, like this:
2 comments:
Your dahlias will be beautiful, I'm sure. There is a florist named Dahlia's in New Jersey, named after the owner's great aunt Irma's favorite flower.
http://dahliaweddings.com/aboutus.html
No kidding! (That's my cousin, Adriene.) I had no idea that was the name of her business, never mind the reason why. I'll hope there's dahlia talent in our blood.
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