Why I Oughta...

Something wild:  I'm still getting dahlia blooms in the first week of November.  In Zone 6a/5b.  Yes...that's right.  I'm still snip'ing off a handful of blooms from the dahlias.  Because...we haven't had a hard frost yet.   I wrote about the lack of first hard frost for our area back in late October.   At that time, I pointed to this post from the University of Illinois State Climatologist who has a map up for the 'latest' first frost on record (which is since 1991 to 2020).  Here's a link to that map .   I've pasted the map below.   But, before we talk about it, let's take a look at the dahlias that are (still) blooming.  Below are a few photos showing Sweet Nathalie dahlia, Great Silence Decorative Dahlia and (Not) Rip City. Great Silence Decorative Dahlia Great Silence Decorative Dahlia (Not)  Rip City Dahlia There are more, like the Saint Martin little ones and a few Blue Wish and some buds on Cafe au Lait....

I grew a Melina Fleur dahlia at my Mom's house in a container.  Or...well....she grew it.  It was one of the bulbs that I overwintered last year that I started in a one-gallon nursery container.  She transplanted it into a large pot and grew some cut flowers all season long.   It wasn't protected from the frost, so the foliage died back earlier in November.  When I was over there watching a recent Bears game, I dug the tubers out and brought them home.   My plan is to dig the tubers, let them cure for a couple of days and then...wrap them in Saran Wrap.   Below is a peek at the tubers that came out of her container.  One tuber went into the pot this year.  And, I was able to pull-apart three distinct tubers that (I think??) all appear to be viable (have eyes) on them.  Two are pretty large, one is smaller.  I bought some labels (this year!) and wrapped them around the stems of the tubers.   I'll leave these ...