Will I be able to keep these?

Since he can no longer drive, when I took an elderly neighbour to a garden centre earlier this year, he insisted on buying me a 'thank you' gift and presented me with 3 bedding dahlias. I've dead-headed religiously and although the rain hasn't helped, the plants are still covered in flowers and the formation of new buds shows no sign of slowing down.

Someone told me that it is possible to keep bedding dahlias as they produce tubers. Is this correct and if so, how would I go about keeping them?

 

Nice present. The rain should have helped them immensely, they are thirsty plants. I know very little about Dahlias as I'm only growing one for the first time this year, but PeterS posted this excellent thread a few months ago which has loads of information in it on them.

http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/fo...0-things-21624.html?t=21624&highlight=dahlias

 

They do form tubers

 

They do form tubers and it depends where you live and how open to the elements are you
I have grown mine for a long time and I always leave mine in the ground so good luck however you
Somwe of my bedding dahlias under my front room window

 

The dahlias form tubers Fidgetsmum and if you live in a mild, dry area they will probably get through the winter allright if you just leave them in the ground.
If you want to be sure of keeping them then when flowering has finished dig up the tubers, leave a bit of stalk on and dry them thoroughly in a shed or somewhere.
Bury the tubers in a box of dry peat and keep in a frost free place over winter.
When the tubers start to shoot next year plant them out.

If you want to have more bedding dahlias they are very easy from seed.
I never bother to lift the tubers and just grow from seed every year.

 

Thank you for that everyone.

I don't know why, but I always assumed you either bought tubers or bought bedding dahlias and just disposed of the latter at the end of the season.

As my daughter would say 'every day's a school day' !

 

I have left mine in for the last three years and they survived to flower until this last winter. We only have one left out of about ten

stony