Dahlias are tireless summer bloomers that enchant the gardener with a constant flow of new blooms from July until the first frost. Dahlias are easy to care for - most of the work is done by digging up in the fall and wintering indoors. This is how you overwinter the daisy family, also known as georgines.
Dahlias are not hardy and need to go into winter quarters before the first frost
Dahlias do not tolerate frost
Shoots and flowers of the dahlia freeze to death even at slightly below zero temperatures. Therefore, georgines must be kept indoors over the winter. Only the tubers overwinter. Leaves and flowers cannot survive the winter because there is a lack of light and warmth in the cold season.
For overwintering, the tubers must be taken out of the ground or the pot. They are best overwintered in the basement.
Courageous gardeners try to overwinter the non-hardy dahlias in pots or even outside. Here, however, the losses are usually quite high and not suitable for high-quality dahlia varieties.
Dahlias are best overwintered in the basement
A basement offers the perfect temperatures for wintering georgines. It usually doesn't get warmer than four to eight degrees here and the humidity is neither too low nor too high.
If no basement is available, other rooms are available for wintering georgines:
- utility room
- Dry, frost-free garage
- Garden shed (€24.90) with frost guard
The temperatures should not rise above ten degrees, because then the tubers will start to sprout. Dahlia tubers must not dry out either, so spray them occasionally with a little water.
tips and tricks
For the winter storage of dahlia tubers, old wooden boxes without coating are ideal. They regulate moisture so that the roots do not rot or dry out.