Lifting dahlias, bucket style

Goodness these were heavy. I wasn’t expecting dead lifting such hefty bits of garden plant.

But then everything about dahlias are excessive. Flower colour, size, flowering season, delight.

Let me show you the dahlias in flower first before we gaze upon brown and dead stuff.

And now the scene I saw today.

 

Yup. A very wintry scene. If you are new to this post you will not know that I have a nifty plan to grow dahlias. I grow them in pots. Holes drilled in the bottom of el cheapo buckets. Then sunk into the soil. Mulched heavily.

Cheaper from hardware stores than in garden nurseries.

This keeps out the critters (mole rats) and means I can lift them in winter. If I need to.

Except I don’t. Well, I didn’t for the last two years. They didn’t freeze being deep in the soil. And I just mulched very heavily over the top. Snow, freeze, heavy rain. All went well.

And then every spring I would just scrape the thick mulch off the top and chase the slugs off the emerging shoots.

But boy have they bulked out. Grown clear out of their pots.

So it’s time for me to lift and divide.

Or in this case, lift and hide.

In the basement cellar.

I have promised to divide them this winter. I just need to get a dozen more buckets and drill those holes and replant.

I ran out of daylight today. And I had a mission to go down to town and collect a bit of furniture. Thrilling I know. But I have A Project this Christmas.  And it doesn’t involve getting cold and wet outdoors. Anon. Anon.