Have your dahlias reappeared?

I have A Bishop and two Moonfire. I lifted all three late last Autumn and put them in bags of shredded paper and plenty of air holes. Planted them up in pots late February on the kitchen windowsill until April and planted outside. The two Moonfire are about a foot tall and flowering but the Bishop is way behind at about 8 inches tall. We've had changeable weather so far though so i'm surprised any of them know what time of year it is - I wonder sometimes myself.

 

I had some very cheap ones that I popped in last year and just left. 2 out of 4 are sprouting leaves this year.

 

I forgot about my Bishop that was stored in the shed all winter until a week ago. I Iwas cross and just about to chuck it out when i noticed some new shoots.

It's now in a big blue pot with a Canna Durban and some lovely dark red Nasturtiums. I'm hoping the combination will look stunning.

 

I have been looking for my dahlias ,my bishops are showing and I think the slugs are eating the growth as it shows of a couple of others,so been watering round them with coffee grounds

 

i had 2 last year. 0 this year. Think thats 0 percent.

 

Ah but it could easily rocket to 50% or 100% overnight.

 

I doubt it, i binned them...but im getting the impression now i shouldnt have

 

Having waited anxiously for the dahlia hedge I planted last year to reappear I decided to investigate. I was sure I'd seen a few shoots several weeks ago, but they were unaccountably missing. Must've rotted in this wet spring, I thought.

Armed with a spade I dug around a solitary, motheaten, tipless shoot and struck gold. A massive, juicy tuber, fat and opulent on the bed of compost I made for it last year.

A further search revealed a clutch, all with their roots dug nicely into the soil. They have been enthusiastically pushing up shoots only to have them eaten off just as enthusiastically on a nightly basis by the slimy army of slugs currently reigning in my garden.

They've been replaced by some bronze fennel and decorative Zea mays, now I've got to rehome a pile of dahlias. Meanwhile they are almost invisible under blue pellets.