Gardening is like a disease! I can't stop buying seeds and bulbs! (Hootie says this need to plant is hereditary.) Last night at Stop and Shop I saw the fateful stand of boxed bulbs... oh boy. 3 Colors of dahlias, 2 types of freesias and one box of ranunculus later, I am really excited and totally out of growing space. The Stop and Shop stand is where I got last year's dahlia (my most successful specimen) and based on that success I have been waiting for the Stop and Shop display to show up. I may gave gone a little crazy. The good news is they are cheaper than any dahlia tubers I have found online and I have really been wanting a purple one.
Today I put each dahlia in a pot - pretty big ones - and we'll have to wait and see. The tubers looked much more robust than the one I wintered on Mom and Dad's porch, which makes me think the dahlia from last year may not grow at all, but I guess it never hurts to put it in some dirt and see what happens. The little pods connected to the central stem were pretty delicate and a few snapped off when I took them out of their bags so I put all the parts in the pot and maybe I'll get lucky and have 2 plants instead of 1? I'm not entirely sure that will work. Crockett says that if I snip the 4-5" dahlia sprouts next month and put them in their own pots I will double my yield. I am very excited to see if this is going to work - I could have a whole garden of just dahlias! (Where will they all go??) I should note that I'm using a mix of new potting soil and the old from last year - I think I will have to fertilize more this summer to compensate for this.
This is the second day I've had the pleasure of sitting on the sunny deck with no jacket. Hooray for 65 degree weather! This really is my personal paradise, I can even hear the waves from where I sit.
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