Last month I wrote about my love affair with dahlias. As a novice dahlia grower, I’ve been a bit anxious about the autumnal chore of dahlia digging, cleaning, storing, etc., that I’ve read about on-line. Serious dahlia growers go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that every single tuber they dig out of the garden has the best chance of surviving the winter and emerging from storage clean, healthy and ready for planting. Here’s the basic protocol they follow, or at least, the process they describe on their websites:
First, you’re supposed to spray the tubers with a hose to remove all the dirt. Then you cut the large clumps very carefully into smaller clumps making sure that each tuber has an eye — a tiny bud just at the base of the stalk where the tuber attaches — from which next season’s growth will emerge. After drying them out thoroughly for two or three days, you place them in cardboard boxes filled with vermiculite, peatmoss or other growing medium, with each layer of tubers separated by a few sheets of newspaper or paper grocery bags. The tubers must not touch, to prevent any possible rot from spreading. Finally, you’re supposed to label each tuber, either with a permanent marker or masking tape on each stem. But wait! You’re not quite done. Tubers should be examined every month to make sure they’re not drying out and shriveling. You’re supposed to mist them if they show signs of dessication.
Wow that’s a lot of work, I thought as I searched for boxes and debated whether to use permanent markers or masking tape labels for the tubers. That is, if I found any worth saving.
Last week we had the first killing frost in our garden. That meant drooping dahlia plants and time to get out the spade and go to work. Digging was a surprisingly rewarding task. I was thrilled to find clusters of seven or eight sizable tubers snug in the soil beneath each frost-blackened stalk. Even though my dahlia tubers had been rudely unearthed by our naughty rescue dog the day after I planted them last spring, they had managed not only to survive replanting but to thrive and multiply from the clumps of two or three I’d planted. This is one of those moments I live for. As a somewhat pessimistic gardener, I need to be reminded that efforts sometimes succeed, even when thwarted by errant pets.
The day after digging I happened to see my friend Sabine, who had gotten me started on dahlias in the first place. She’s a seasoned gardener and a thoroughly sensible person, and I asked her how she dealt with the autumnal task of dahlia storage. She told me that all she does is to shake the dirt off them and sort them by color. No cleaning, cutting, drying or layering. Her method is something I can handle. Whew. Done. On to the next autumn task.
Which brings up the perennial question: how much tidying up should we do in the garden as winter approaches? We are more aware than we used to be about the benefits of leaving garden beds messy until spring, which promotes the health of the ecosystem by providing protected space for creatures that overwinter in the garden. Many insects overwinter as larvae, pupae or eggs in mulch and garden debris and hatch in spring, providing food for birds and small animals. Wood piles and untended patches of vegetation provide a cozy berth for moles and other gnawing creatures. But let’s face it: some of the critters who hunker down in the garden — slugs, tomato hornworms and voles, to name a few — are not ones we welcome. This is a dilemma all gardeners face as the natural world becomes increasingly imperiled. As we move towards more sustainable modes of landscaping and gardening, such issues will become ever more urgent, but that’s a subject for another piece.
One of my favorite autumn events is the appearance of the wonderful Garden Calendar produced each year by University of Massachusetts Extension. This calendar is not only lovely — each month offers an inspiring color photograph — but incredibly helpful. Each day of the year is marked with a useful tip or interesting fact, reminding us what to do (clean and store hummingbird feeders), or simply what to observe in our natural surroundings (conifers obscured during the growing season are now prominent in the garden). This year’s calendar includes a feature titled “Achieving Success Installing Nursery Grown Plants,” which offers instruction on planting techniques. It also discusses different approaches to preparing the root ball for planting, a subject that perplexes lots of gardeners, myself included.
For the gardeners on your holiday gift list who already have every garden tool under the sun, this calendar is the perfect gift. It’s available at ag.umass.edu/gardencalendar or you can send $14.50 payable to UMass to: UMass Garden Calendar, 120 Tillson Farms Rd., Amherst, MA 01003-9346. And it’s for sale at Broadside Books in Northampton, Gardener’s Supply in Hadley and Shelburne Farm & Garden on Rt. 2 in Shelburne Falls.
Mickey Rathbun, an Amherst-based lawyer turned journalist, has written the “Get Growing” column since 2016.