The Anatomy of a Dahlia Tuber

Dahlias are beautiful, lush plants that produce many blooms from August to the first frost. Dahlias come from tubers and somewhat resemble and feel like potatoes. Each variety of Dahlia tuber has a different size and shape: large, round, small, or thin. No matter the size or shape, Dahlia tubers all grow Dahlia flowers.

Parts of a Dahlia Tuber

There are 4 parts of a dahlia tuber:

• the tuber

• the neck

• the crown

• the eye

This photo shows where each part of a Dahlia tuber is located

Each part of the Dahlia tuber plays a vital role in giving life to the Dahlia. Read on to learn more about each part.

Dahlia Tuber

The tuber part of the Dahlia is the largest part. No wonder, as this is the tuber’s life source! The amount of energy in the tuber part is amazing! The tuber gives the plant energy while it is establishing a good root system. This allows the plant to keep growing.

This photo shows where the plant grows from and where the root system grows from

Not only does the tuber grow the plant and establish the roots, but it is also home to the mother. The mother tuber is the original tuber where the Dahlia grew from. It produces other tubers, bringing more life from the tuber. The mother can produce multiple tubers in just 1 growing season.

This photo shows an example of what just 1 mother can produce. The mother is in the middle of all the other tubers. All these tubers were produced from just that 1 tuber. The mother tuber can be replanted the next season if it is still a viable tuber

Dahlia Tuber Neck

The tuber part connects to the neck. The neck plays an important part because it is the pathway of life for the Dahlia. The pathway of life begins at the tuber and ends at the crown.

This photo shows the tubers, neck, and crown on this Dahlia tuber

Dahlia Tuber Crown

As previously mentioned, the pathway of life on a Dahlia tuber extends to the crown. The crown lives just where you’d think, at the top of the tuber, above the neck. The crown houses the viable eye. This is where the plant will grow from.

This photo shows an eye that is sprouted on the crown

Dahlia Tuber Eye

As described above, the crown of the Dahlia tuber houses the viable eye. The eye of the tuber is where the Dahlia plant will grow from. The eye looks like a small bump while dormant. As the tuber starts to break dormancy, the eye will become more visible. Depending on the Dahlia variety, the eye can be purple, red, green, or white in color. Some tubers have crowns that produce more than 1 eye. Having more than 1 eye is ok; it doesn’t mean anything is wrong with the tuber.

This photo shows a set of tubers with 3 eyes. This means that this tuber would produce 3 stalks, making it a very bushy Dahlia plant with many blooms

Dahlia Tuber Shapes and Sizes

At the beginning of this blog post, it was said that Dahlia tubers come in many sizes and shapes. The 4 photos below show the different sizes and shapes tubers can come in. Even though the tubers are different sizes and shapes, they each have a tuber, neck, crown, and eye.

Dahlia tubers can be very small. This photo shows a tuber this is just a slightly larger than an almond

This photo shows a clump of large Dahlia tubers

This photo shows a medium Dahlia tuber

This photo shows a comparison of 2 medium-sized Dahlia tubers. One is skinnier and one is chunkier

This photo shows a comparison of the various sizes and shapes of Dahlia tubers

Summary

We hope this blog post has cleared up some of the complexities of Dahlia tubers. What questions do you have about Dahlia tuber anatomy? Ask them in the comments below.

If you grow your own Dahlias or would like to start, Goose Creek Gardens sells Dahlia tubers online beginning November 1 through April, shipping them in April.

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