Overwinter Bulbs in Three Steps

Dahlias, elephant ears, and gladiolas are all good bulbs to overwinter in the fall.

We’ve got a three easy steps to help guide you:

1. Take these bulbs out of the ground before a real hard frost.  We recommend you wait for the first light frost to knock back the foliage. It won’t hurt the bulb and it will make digging them up easier.

2. Cut off all the frost foliage, to get it out of your way, and then dig up the bulbs.

3. There are different methods to packing the bulbs. We recommend putting them into a large pot that has drainage, loosely covering them with a mixture of potting soil and peat moss.  Then you’ll want to store these bulbs somewhere where they will be protected from freezing. Garages work best, it keeps them cool enough to stay in dormancy but warm enough not to freeze out.

Please be aware the bulbs will still need watered about once a month, just to keep the bulbs alive. Some people choose to put them in basements, which will do the same thing, but just make sure it is an unheated basement so the bulbs don’t dry out.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask any of our experts in store, or ask online here.