Why I Oughta...

The dahlias have only been outside, planted in the beds, for about five weeks.  They went in the ground the first week in June.  Here's a post showing the containers of tubers that I started indoors in late April .  This year, I've expanded the varieties of Dahlias that we have in the garden by a big number.  Last year, I grew (exclusively) Melina Fluer dahlias and they were great.  So great, in fact, that I went down this "dahlia expansion" path for 2025.  One of the new varieties that we're growing is named Wizard of Oz.  I planted one of these down IB2DWs (near the sidewalk) and the other one languished in the container.  Until just this past week, when I finally stuck it in the front yard .   Wizard of Oz is a pink pompon dahlia. White Flower Farm says that Wizard of Oz ..."features honeycombed, fully double blossoms in a lovely shade of pastel pink. These 2–3″ pompoms make enchanting additions to late summer gardens and flower bou...

A couple weeks ago, I potted up a number of stored and newly purchased Dahlia tubers in one-gallon nursery pots .  All of the stored tubers (Melina Fleur Dahlias) from last year were stored over-winter in Saran Wrap in the garage and a few of them were already showing some growth/sprouts of new growth off the tubers.  That lead to some of them moving fast to show new foliage - above the soil - with new shoots of life.   See below for a few photos of the tubers growing new green growth.   After these put on a couple sets of leaves, I'll move them out of the basement and into the screened porch.  There, they'll get A LOT more light and a tiny bit of wind (when I open the windows) and can continue their growing process.  Once they put on another set of leaves out there, I'll begin to harden them off by putting them outside for an ever-increasing amount of time.   That means they'll be in the porch for 4-5 days, then begin to harden-off for ...