I've discovered that lots of people have never heard of tubers, and when they do, they think "tuber" is a funny word. The phenomenal dahlia owes its existence to this lowly root. I'm sure all of us have had the opportunity, at one time or another, to explain the difference between tubers and bulbs.....the onion-like bulbs are solid and dry inside, with crispy skin that peels away easily, while tubers are soft-skinned, meaty, moist in the center like a potato. We all love to share our enthusiasm for growing the amazing flowers that spring forth from the humble brown vegetable - yes, it is edible - just ask Lois Munro, who shared her dahlia breads with us at a meeting a few months ago! I've been spending quite a bit of time with my tubers lately, first with a goal of getting a couple to sprout so I can get a few out to practice propagation from cuttings, and secondly, to sort and prepare for planting, and for our annual tuber sale.
Each spring here in North Central Washington, we plant our tubers in gardens and yards with well-drained soil in areas of full sun, and carefully lay these, one at a time, in 6-inch deep holes dusted with a bit of bone meal, eye facing up, toward the stakes if you use them. Cover with soil, pat gently, and wait until after the plant pushes through the soil before watering. Once that happens, your original tuber has done its job, and will quietly lay below the soil, making babies that become the "clump" that you carefully lift from the soil with a spade or flat-fork after fall's killing frost. Once dug, the tubers are cleaned and washed, allowed to dry off, divided and separated, labeled and put to bed in whatever way a grower has found to be best - we layer ours, lasagna-style, in apple boxes, on pine shavings - they sleep through the winter, dark and above-freezing, until the annual spring awakening.
Sorting through these babies takes a little time, but it is worth it, and gives me the opportunity to get better acquainted with the qualities that vary among varieties. For example, I can tell you which are prolific in their tuber production, or which ones tend to have humongous tubers, or which, although small, seem to have eager eyes that are already putting forth shoots. As I dig through the layers of shavings, I find that some of those we had such high hopes for have either rotted, shriveled, or have no eyes on them. These constitute just a fraction of the tubers we stored over the winter, and become part of my compost heap......The remainder get sorted by name into zip-loc bags, carefully labeled with my Sharpie, and arranged carefully in boxes and stored back in the cool environs of my crawlspace. Once I know how many tubers I have of each variety, I consider which ones we will plant again this year, which ones I really didn't like very much (Yes, there are flowers that we prefer over others - go ahead, accuse me of favoritism "Mom always liked you best!")..... which ones, like our "Cascade" seedlings, will be handled with special care this year, and how many of each to include in the gardens. This year, Debbie, Vicki and I will once again be planting the Russell Street garden, our joint effort to carry on Dad's legacy. I will also have a much improved home garden (I hope!) using some of Beth Miracle's strategies for raised gardens, and for the first time, will have a row at the Tony DeRooy Memorial Garden on Emerson Street. My sisters and I have ordered a number of new tubers from Swan Island, and will also acquire some from our dahlia society buddies. I hope to get a few tubers from some of the Western Washington dahlia hybridizers and growers. Prefixes like SnoHo, Camano, Valley, Swan's, Skipley, Beaucon, Island, Tahoma and others make my heart beat faster. Can't wait for planting!
I've been pretty busy working with my friend and super-techie guru, Angela Richmond, to launch our new NCW Dahlia Society Website......She has been amazing, and continues to support us in working out the bugs, and making sure that we have what we want on the site. I hope everyone gets a chance to visit - hit all the tabs and links to see what all is there.....We'd love to get feedback and ideas on how we can make it better, and more appealing to a broad audience of dahlia lovers...... Stop by at www.ncwdahlias.org
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