Winter…is here?

December 26, 2025

I went on a walk this afternoon following my six hour shift of VRS work (read my other blog about VRS here, if you are interested) and it finally started to feel like winter! About 42 degrees…Washington has had one frost, several weeks back, at a low of 37 degrees. Other than that, we have been in about the mid to high 50’s. I love it, but at the same time I can feel our seasons are shifting. I am predicting a rather chilly January and February, perhaps creating a longer snowboarding season for my husband and me…and thus a longer time until my dahlias can be planted.

By the end of November, I had successfully dug up the majority of my dahlias.…I did leave several though. Primarily to see how they grow through the winter and because they added some needed coverage at the front of our house (and a few at the back that were fairly small). There is one orion tuber in particular that I planted in April 2025 that was overwhelmingly massive and a challenge to cut with my clippers, so I just planted him! I left him this winter too and will have an update in winter 2026 when I dig him out (if I dig him up…). Also, this year I decided to divide my tubers as I was digging. In spring of 2025, I woke up my tubers from their slumber in sawdust and divided all the tubers at that time. It took a significant amount of perfect spring gardening weather. I sat in my garage, with my music playing, and cut for weeks….I would break up a few tubers, then head outside to plant. I still enjoyed the process, but wanted to try dividing in the winter this year.

With the tubers already being divided, I can easily sell individual tubers in spring to my customers! It will allow me to see which tubers were cut properly, and they should hopefully popping up some tiny sprouts. Yes, I use an ironing board to cut my dahlias on! It works super well! I tucked the tubers in the garage…stacks upon stacks; I lost count but it must be over 300 tubers. To think, I started out with about 20 dahlia tubers in 2023 and it has grown to this number. Looking forward to seeing the result of my work this year. Head over to my tuber page if you are interested in purchasing tubers; there, you will find the varieties I have growing: https://www.consolidatedplants.com/tubers-and-bulbs/.

In December, I hosted a small booth in Longview! I sold my houseplants and some Seed Starter Kits. The kits have a great mix of sunflower seeds, sweet pea seeds and nasturtiums. Check out the variety of flowers that are available in the store. The color of flowers from the seeds will be a surprise to you! And after you buy one kit, you will be set for years to come as each of these flowers will produce more seeds. Of course you must do your due diligence and collect seeds at the end of the season…or purchase another starter kit from me. I learned a lot from this booth and will continue improving sales as more opportunities arise. The pictures below are a few of the options you will get!

Grab you kit here: https://www.consolidatedplants.com/store/starter-seed-kit/.