Frost Covers For Dahlias - Mid-October Gardening - October 2024

2024 has been the season for dahlias in my garden.  This isn't the first time that I've grown Dahlias from tubers, but it is the first season that I worked at getting them right.  From pre-ordering tubers to starting them indoors to moving them out after the last frost to mulching them in and keeping them watered and fed, I've worked at the dahlias this year and the results - in terms of countertop arrangements - have really paid off.  

Like a lot of things in the garden, the first frost will bring most dahlia seasons to their end.  

Last week, the National Weather Service was tweeting (or X'ing) about how our area was set to receive a couple of nights of 'hard frosts'.    There were a bunch of tweets said that very thing: "...resulting in an end to the growing season for much of the area."  Like this one:

Widespread frost and near to sub-freezing temperatures are expected again tonight away from Chicago and the lakeshore, resulting in an end to the growing season for much of the area. Be sure to cover sensitive plants or bring them indoors! #ILwx #INwx pic.twitter.com/p8q3KkitKh

— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) October 16, 2024

But, I wasn't quite ready to have *my* dahlia season come to an end.  My phone's weather was saying that it was borderline for us.  Temps would get down to MAYBE 32 degrees, but one app showed a low of 33 and the other a low of 32.  

That meant it was time to jump into action and to see if I *could* extend the dahlia season.  Step one - for when a frost is set to arrive:  water like heck.  I watered everything.  Sprinklers, hose, etc.  I put down an inch of water on most things and paid special attention to the tubers of the dahlias.

Then, I grabbed the frost covers - the white, semi-see-thru cloths that help protect plants.  I cut them up to fit most of our dahlias and put in some stakes to keep the cloths *off* the plants.  Here's a few photos in this post showing the frost covers on our dahlias in the front yard and sideyard.  

Below is the one Dahlia - which was supposed to be a Cornell Bronze Dahlia, but is a dark red one - IB2DWs.  I covered it and used some firebrick scraps to keep it anchored in place.

The photo at the top of this post is showing the southside of our house.  This is the MOST PROTECTED part of our garden.  It is in between two houses, tucked in against our foundation in (mostly) full sun during the day.  I still covered them.

Fast forward to today - when the temps are in the 70's.  

And, we have all of our dahlias still with some (smaller) blooms on them.