dalia

its a fair question. if it helps i am working in a garden which has had some fantastic flowering dahlias(see my cut flower garden pics) and i can assure you that i did not plant them !!! i have been there since the snow in january so if they are deep enough i reckon you would be safe!!! i am digging mine up this year as i intend to move them anyway!!lol

Do i need to sign a disclaimer ???

As long as your soil is not to heavy and wet and you lay a thick mulch over them...they should be ok....it really depends how severe a winter we have next time.....I'm going to have the same problem and I have over 70 plants!!!!!

i never lift my dahlias, unless i want to move them or take little tuber cuttings in the spring. Theloneg and alice are right as long as they are planted deep enough and you mulch them well, they should be ok. The winters sem to be getting milder, don't they?........ good luck.

I read something recently about this - apparently, most people no longer bother to lift them and most of the time, they survive - seems to be cold wet that does for them, because they rot in the soil. I dug one up last year and kept it in the garage for warmth - it died anyway, wish I'd left it in the ground.

Trust in nature !

I'm much more of a cynic, lonegardener - nature is entirely impartial, neither benevolent nor malevolent, just hugely powerful - have to work with it where possible and bend it slightly occasionally!

In my own garden I usually lift them but in my mother-in-law's garden that we also look after we usually cover each crown with a pile of peat or compost and both methods seem to work equally well.

out of interest how deep should they be planted to be classed as 'deep enough'?

Guessing 3ftish ???

I think you mean 3 inches so the top of the tuber is about 3 inches below ground level and that normally seems fine for mine. A bit deeper if you wish.

My mistake... did i really say 3 ft !?!
I`m with you Inverglen !