Lifted Dahlias too early

Hi Marianne. I live in Kent and have Dinnerplate Dahlias in my flower garden. I decided this year to store them and took them out of the ground about 3 weeks ago. They are hanging in my shed to dry now.

But I found out that I wasn’t supposed to lift them until the first frost. So now they have no “eyes”. My questions are: 1) Should I divide them now and if so how (since they have no “eyes”)? 2) Or should I just go ahead and store them now as they are in a big clump and divide them in the late spring? 3) If I don’t divide them now, will the “eyes” come out in the spring or will they never get “eyes” since I lifted them too early? I don’t know what to do now since they have no “eyes”.

Thank you for your help.

Darlene

Posted by D Pryor on October 14, 2018