Dahlia Tuber Storage Tips

Dahlias are becoming an increasingly popular cut flower for flowers farmers and home gardeners alike. With many different colors, sizes and shapes, it’s easy to see why they’re a fan favorite! Dahlia flowers start from a tuber, which means that they have a swollen underground stem that stores energy for the plant to grow. While dahlias are not winter hardy in growing zones that have temperatures that dip consistently below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, their tubers can be dug up and stored over the winter months to be replanted in the spring. Proper dahlia tuber storage is essential to ensure that the tubers are healthy and ready to grow when the time comes to plant them again the following growing season. Today, we wanted to share some of our tips with y’all. Below are some tips for storing dahlia tubers throughout the winter

DAHLIA STORAGE TIPS

1. The best time to dig up dahlia tubers is after the first frost, when the plant has died back and the foliage has turned yellow. This usually occurs in mid October or early November.

2. Cut off the stems/greenery: Cut off the stems of the plants about 6 inches above the tubers, leaving a small stem attached to each tuber.

3. Clean and dry the tubers: Before storing the tubers, gently brush off any excess dirt, wash and allow them to air dry for a couple days in a well-ventilated area.

4. Once dry, divide dahlias and let sit out for another 24 hours.

5. Storage: Place tubers into peat moss as a storage medium in a ventilated box. We use bulb crates with craft paper liner on the bottom. A temperature of around 40-50°F is ideal, with the humidity kept around 80%, and plenty of airflow (we keep a fan running).

6. Protect from pests: It is important to check the tubers regularly for any signs of pests or rot. If you notice any issues, remove the affected tubers and dispose of them to prevent the problem from spreading. Common pests we see are roly-poly bugs. They will make a little village and eat your tubers. If you find them, take the entire crate out and rewash the tubers.

7. Check your tubers daily to make sure the temperature is within the range noted above, the humidity levels are correct and pull a few out to take a look at them from the peat moss (placing them back into and well under the peat moss aftterwards).

By following these simple steps, you can ensure that your dahlia tubers are properly stored and ready to be replanted in the spring. With a little bit of care and attention, you can enjoy these beautiful flowers in your garden for years to come.

XX Jenn and Adam

Rainbow Wreath Making

Our signature rainbow wreaths have been increasingly popular year over year.

Dried flowers in every color of the rainbow laid upon a nest of fresh evergreens, it really makes those beautiful rainbow colors pop and it smells sooo good! Where did the idea for the rainbow wreath come from? The original idea came from a guest at a wreath making workshop three years ago. She started using dried flowers in various, more random colors in her wreath. They were clustered together, which made the colors pop even more. I took one look at it and it instantly dawned on me that I could use my dried flowers to make an extraordinary rainbow colored wreath. A day or two after the class, I raced to the shop to try and see if I could make my own creation. Sure enough, the rainbow wreath idea turned out perfectly and looked absolutely stunning!

Jenn holds a rainbow wreath in the lavender field with her dog chewy

How do we make the rainbow wreaths? Well, the process starts in the summer when we set aside time to cut fresh flowers for drying, specifically to make the rainbow wreaths. We take an hour each week, usually at the end of the day to go out and cut flowers in bunches of 10 to bring back to hang in our shop.

The flowers usually take around 10 days to dry in our shop area, but they’re stored in there for a few months before we end up using them in the wreaths. Any extra dried flowers are sold at farmer’s market, at specialty shops or in our own farm store.

As you can see, we use the colors of the rainbow. The flowers and citrus included in the wreath are as follows: yellow statice, yellow marigolds, yellow yarrow, orange slices, orange marigolds, red gomphrena, winterberry, dark purple/wine celosia, burgundy Chester Copperpot celosia, purple statice, dark blue larkspur, blue saliva, ruscus, and seeded eucalyptus.

Sometimes these ingredients vary and I’ll use other things to sub in for color, or I’ll only use 1 red item for example, so you can be flexible with what you use for your recipe and how you do your bunches. There’s lots of creative liberties you can take when putting one together.

Rainbow Wreath

What do you think about the rainbow wreath? Worth the hype? Are you encouraged to try to make one of your own? They’re sure to add a modern, cheery touch to the holiday season!

XX Jenn

2022 PepperHarrow Holiday Style Guide

Home for the Holidays

a Guide to Easy Hosting and Decorating Tips

We love decorating for the holidays at the farm and love hosting family and friends this time of year. It’s our time of year to slow down, after a busy season of growing flowers. We have extra time to relax and hold our loved ones a little closer to us. Today, we want to give you some ideas for decorating your place for the holidays and some fun ideas for how to set your holiday table for hosting this year.

Simplicity

Simplicity is a word we love to use around the flower farm. Keeping everything simple helps with our sanity and helps remind us of what’s most important. Simplicity is best to forgo stress during this time of year when hosting family and friends. There’s no need to prepare gourmet meals for your loved ones. The main focus on this time of year is about getting together, celebrating thankfulness and spending quality time with those you hold most dear.

Adam’s most favorite easy dish we like to prepare for guests is a nod to his upbringing in Louisiana. Gumbo! It’s a favorite with our family and friends, who love this easy going, southern comfort food dish. Pair it with a little homemade cornbread and it’s hosting made easy! Scroll below for our gumbo recipe.

In a recent interview with NPR, Ina Garten also mirrored the concept of simplicity with cooking for the holidays, saying, "Make a simple meal and make it absolutely delicious. Your friends won't have any fun if you've spent the entire day baking. In fact, they'll have more fun if you're relaxed and happy."

Setting the Holiday Table

The flowers have gone around this time of year, so instead of using flowers to decorate our tablescape, we gather any remaining herbs, pumpkins, squashes, gourds, and include beautiful fruits we have around, like apples and dried oranges. Sprinkle in seasonal nuts in gold decorative dish to add an edible element.

My aunt told me, when I asked her for holiday decorating advice long ago, that adding candles always adds sparkle to holiday decorating no matter what. I definitely agreed, and candles have become my most favorite fall back to make our home or event space inviting and ready to receive guests. With candles, you can mix the colors of candles you use and you can also mix up the candlesticks you use to match the overall vibe you’re looking for with your decorating. I like to use brass or gold oftentimes with natural wood accents with dinnerware or serving bowls. The mix of organic elements with the elevated look of the gold/brass is striking.

Decorating Outside

Adding greenery garland, wreaths, bows, bells, twinkle lights, and other seasonal accents outdoors to celebrate the holidays is a great way to add a more festive vibe to the season. We love to decorate our front porch, Flower Cottage, and the barn event space where we host guests for holiday workshops here at the flower farm.

Holiday trends to be on the lookout for this year-

Using greenery and other organic elements, such as twigs, pinecones, and grasses! This is us every season, but it seems to be catching on in popularity. Grab a greenery swag or two and use them to frame out your doors, or a fresh greenery wreath for your front door. These natural elements add a lot to the holidays and often last an extremely long time, well beyond Valentine’s Day.

We also are totally in love with gold this year. Simple and stunning like what we said above, mixing the natural elements of the beautiful organic looking verdant greenery with the elevated shine of gold accents makes for a striking combination.

Color wise, we also love the look of burgundy, beige, gold, and other rust colored accents. We think this is a trend that is on point this year. You can even add a little pink to this beautiful color mix for a visually pleasing setup.

Another trend to be aware of this year is: everything houndstooth! It’s everywhere, out in force. We couldn’t find anything last year when we did our decorating and ended up using fabric to make our ribbons (shown below), but this year is very different. You can find houndstooth patterned ribbon, accent pillows, and other decorations with the pattern everywhere.

You can see some houndstooth examples and snag ribbon for bows here.

View fullsize

Flowers

Winter blooming flowers add a lot of cheer to the season. A favorite here are paper whites and amaryllis

Neutrals

Neutral, natural looking details add an extra hygge vibe to the holidays.

Simple satin ribbon and dried flowers is elegant and easy to add to any room for the holidays.

Ready for the Holidays!

We hope we’ve given you some quick, easy ideas for hosting and decorating your space for the 2022 holiday season. Whether you’re hosting a few, many, or visiting others, we hope that your holiday season is a wonderful one. Cherish each and every day and the ones around you!

XX Jenn and Adam

Adam’s Southern Comfort Gumbo Recipe

Ingredients:

3⁄4 cup olive oil
1 1⁄2 cups flour
1 cup onion, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups cut up andouille sausages
2 -3  lbs chicken, cut into small size parts, including gizzards

2 cans of crushed tomatoes
2 1⁄2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1⁄2 teaspoons louisiana hot sauce
2 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
4 cups water
4 cups sauterne white wine

1 tsp file powder

2 bay leaves

Directions:

In a stock pot, combine oil and flour on medium heat to make a roux. Stir the mixture constantly and slowly until it browns.

When the mixture reaches a nice golden brown color, add the onion and cook ‘til clear.

Add garlic and whisk in 4 cups of water.

Stir in the Worcestershire, crushed tomatoes, hot sauce, and sausage.

Add chicken.

Add 4 cups of Sauterne wine, salt, and file.

Add bay leaves to top.

Simmer for 1 1/2 hour, let cool, and place in fridge overnight.

Next day, bring to a boil and turn down heat and simmer for 1 hour. (It’s better served the next day)

Serve over warm rice with a side of cornbread.

Inspired by Adam’s cooking hero, Justin Wilson!

New Dahlia Varieties We're Growing at PepperHarrow in 2022: Round 1

If y’all have been following along with our flower farming journey thus far, you know we’ve grown our selection of dahlias into a collection of really great varieties and have are known as some of the best dahlia growers in the us. This wasn’t intentional, but more the product of being a 100% plant addict and dahlia lover. Self control goes out the window when I see a gorgeous new dahlia variety I need to get my hands on. BUT it all works out in the end, because it means that all of our new varieties will be available for purchase to all of YOU!

We’ll be offering our dahlia varieties online coming soon, first to our Big Dreams Family on Patreon, which can be accessed here if you haven’t already. General availability for dahlia tubers for the public will go online on 1/1/23.

Here’s a look at some of our first round of our BEST new dahlia varieties we’re growing! We’ll share more soon, because they’re all starting to show off out in the garden!

XX Jenn

Bloomquist

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A beautiful new addition to our collection from Triple Wren Farms. It serves as a nice blush color for weddings and local florists. It grows about 5’ tall and has nice long, tall, sturdy stems for bouquets.

Observations: A prolific bloomer, perfect for specialty cut flower growers. Susceptible to powdery mildew.

KAs Mocha Jo

Who are we kidding?! We love ALL of the KAs varieties, but especially this one. It’s the ‘blendy pen’ of the dahlia world and because of this, it’s is a great dahlia to use for design work, because it bridges many colors.

Observations: Small, bushy growth habit. Doesn’t appear to produce a ton of tubers

Irish Ruffles

Never have we grown such a beautiful white dahlia. It has a large bloom with petals that look soft and fluffy, giving this beauty its name. It’s definitely a favorite of ours.

Observations: Needs to be staked due to the heavy bloom and tall stems the plant produces. Not a prolific tuber producer.

Aitara Diadem

Wow! I’m usually not really a fan of bi-color dahlias, but this bloom has stood out as one of the best in the garden. The 6’ blooms are some of the first to be cut to include in bouquets, because they’re so remarkable.

Observations: Tall, bushy growth habit with large leaves. Very healthy, vigorous plant.

KAs Bella Luna

Sourced from StoneHouse Dahlias as a rooted cutting and wow, has it exploded with growth. The bloom starts off as white and finishes with an unexpected burst of blush in the center. Just gorgeous!

Observations: Hardy, vigorous growing plant and blooms. 4’ tall with nice sturdy stems.

Quiet Splendor

This bloom was totally unassuming until it really started to open and I was struck by the blush variegation in the leaves. Must day, it’s a keeper! It’s taken lack of rain and terribly hot conditions and has thrived.

Observations: Tall, workable stems perfect as a specialty cut flower.

Normandie Wedding Day

Who doesn’t love dahlia cultivars from the UK? The unique, blush bloom on this beauty is just incredible. We’re not known for growing cactus varieties, which this one is, but this one was too pretty NOT to grow.

Observations: Prone to powdery mildew. Tall, sturdy stems.

Clearview Jennae

Wine or magenta? Either way, we’re obsessed with this gorgeous, prolific dahlia and will be adding more to our growing stock.

Observations: Incredible, tall growth habit, 5’ tall. Strong, sturdy stems perfect for specialty cut flowers.

Blush Dahlias We Grow on the Flower Farm

Blush dahlias are a popular color among our florists and customers as a cut flower and it’s also a popular color with gardeners who purchase dahlia tubers as well! We want to share the list of our fav blush varieties we grow here on the flower farm. We’re always looking to add more, but these are staples for us each and every season.

Bloomquist Tory P

This is THE truly blush colored dahlia. It’s the perfect bloom to match a request for blush from a local florist or wedding couple. It’s also highly sought after as a tuber variety.

Cafe Au Lait

This large, beautiful bloom is just stunning. Their blooms are so large, they’re referred to as ‘dinner plate’ dahlias.

Tahoma Kellie

The bloom is smaller than most, but because of the long, sturdy stems and smaller bloom size, it’s perfect for bouquet work.

Pink Pearl

Another great shade of blush and a nice, long lasting bloom. She also blooms early in the season, helping to fulfill dahlias orders early.

Sweet Nathalie

This is a MUST have tuber for blush. The blooms are easy to work with and on the medium to large side in size. She can take on a bit of a mauve hue.

Narrows Ryder

Although a little on the white side, this is one that’s passable for blush and has nice tall, sturdy stems to work with.