Utah Dahlia Society

Thanks goes to Spence and Emily for their gorgeous yard and hospitality!

We met at 4:00 PM at Spence and Emily Mortensen's home for our outdoor, mask-a-raid of their garden. Seriously, those who were able to eat the Joan J raspberries truly did enjoy the raid and had to remove their masks! The beauty of their yard with a buck running though it makes us appreciate them and the amount of work to maintain it. The view of their garden with Little Cottonwood Canyon behind is breath taking (amplified with wearing a mask).

The food was provided by the Dahlia Society and social distance tables were setup throughout the yard.

Our President Julie Williams gets pointers from her 3 darling girls.

Highlights of Julie's discussion:

Misconception that you have to wait for a freeze to dig your dahlias. You don't have to wait!

Chop with lopers to the ground.
Dig them up when you can. Hopefully, before frost.

For those who want to learn how to store your dahlias, there will be a date at Dick Taylor's home sometime early November where experts will show you how to cut the dahlias and ready them for winter. Check your email for this date.
Methods of storing were discussed by Julie and others as follows:

Dig, wash and dry and store entire clump over the winter and separate in spring or separate in the fall. The choice of when is yours. Note: It is easier to see the eyes in the spring.
Sandy says she splits the dahlia in two and puts into separate bags incase she looses one in hopes the other is good.
Dig, blow with compressed air.
Get as much of the stem off of the tubers to prevent rot.
Store in gallon bags, with poked holes with 1 cup vermiculite and 1/2 tsp sulfur to prevent rot.
Store in wood chips in bins
Wrap individual tubers in plastic wrap.

The decision was made that our club flower in 2021 will be a repeat of Ken's Choice.
Megan Badger will send an email for voting on pictures for our annual calendar.