On 18/12/08 10:05, in article
, "Dave
Hill" wrote:

On 18 Dec, 09:14, Charlie Pridham wrote:
How easy are they to lift? and is there any point? I know a couple of you
grow them (Plant is not mine)
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwallwww.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

I dont know this variety and I can find no trace of it on line so I
can't really advise, How long has it been in the ground?
I find that the tree dahlias lift well though the tubers can be
larger,
I lifted one young one which had very thin an under developed
(fortunatly) tubers/roots, and the longest was just over 4ft long.
You can cut the actual tubers without doing harm to the plant as long
as the cut is alowed to dry.
If there is ever a spare plant of it I'd be interested.
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

This is the one we've gone back and forth about, David. We believe the one
you gave us to be D. excelsa but I think you call it D.imperialis. We have
D. imperialis also but it's very much taller than the beautiful plant you
gave us and yours has bright pink double flowers and plenty of them, while
D. imperialis has single flowers and right at the top.
To answer Charlie we don't lift our D. excelsas but Ray always puts a good
thick mulch over them. One lot is in a bed beside the house and another is
in the Hydrangea Walk but has some protection from nearby trees and a thick
yew hedge.
There are various links to Dahlia excelsa here
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...=Google+Search

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
(new website online)