Spring fever

Garden group plants dahlias

March 12, 2006

DAWN DE BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

BIG LAKE - As the noontime sunlight glared off snowbanks and the Alaska flora slept quietly beneath the ground cover, about 30 people gathered in a chilly and dark four-car garage on Saturday in Big Lake and potted more than 500 dahlias.

Big Lake resident Randi Perlman delighted at a chance to roll up her sleeves and get her hands dirty. Wayne Love pulled tubers out of the plastic tub where they'd been stored all winter. After Love separated the roots, someone wrote on them the anticipated color.

The North Root Big Lake Gardeners Club met at club organizer Linda Lockhart's home to engage in the spring activity of planting tubers.

According to the Web page for the business Danielle's Dahlias, tubers cannot be referred to as bulbs. Bulbs that yield daffodils, tulips or lilies are put in the ground in the autumn, while tubers respond better when planted in warm, well-drained soil, the Web site said.

Potted dahlias don't need much water, Lockhart said.

A passionate, yet civil, discussion arose on whether it is necessary to clean dahlia tubers before winter storage. Club organizer Linda Lockhart favored storing them clean, and Love decided he would try that technique next fall.

For now, with spring breakup right around the corner, club members got a jump start on summer as they potted dahlia tubers that promised to blossom in shades of raspberry, yellow, magenta, orange and red.

&#8220They are pretty forgiving flowers and I don't grow them in full sun,” Love said.

Danielle's Dahlia recommends that gardeners plant the flowers in an area that get at least eight hours of direct sunlight. Dahlias grown in shaded spots tend to be &#8220tall and spindly,” according to the Web page.

Wasilla resident Craig Kinnour has a soft spot for the flower.

&#8220I used to have 5,000 dahlias. I like them because they have a variety of colors, and they just bloom and bloom and bloom,” Kinnour said.

Most of the people who showed up at Saturday's event walked away with a flat full of potted dahlias or a bag of tubers to plant at home. Advice - such as spraying a solution of witch hazel directly on slugs to remove them - was passed around. Gardening tales were shared - like one about the miniature-breed dog who got drunk on cups of beer placed in a flower bed to get rid of slugs.

The dog's owner now puts the slug-killing beer out at night when the dog is in the house.

&#8220This is the most active group in Big Lake. And it all started from a master gardener class,” Cindy Bettine said.

Bettine was referring to the gardening class offered by the cooperative extension that had such a strong showing that the Big Lake residents with a common interest formed a nonprofit group. Lockhart said she hopes to tackle some of the concerns of gardeners in her community, such as the lack of adequate soil.

She plans to spearhead efforts to create a community compost pile in addition to having a compost expert speak at a future club meeting.

Also, she would like to see some of the timber from the Millers Reach fire in 2006 turned into mulch, and put to use by area gardeners.

The next meeting will highlight spring perennial division, according to Lockhart.

&#8220It's time to yank them out of the ground and separate them,” she said. &#8220It'll be hands-on in someone's garden.”

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252 or dawn.debusk@

frontiersman.com.