A rainy weekend and beginning to plan

It has been one rainy weekend around here! It alternately rained and then poured most all of yesterday and on through the night. This morning our 2" rain gauge was completely full. The rain has continued today with flood warnings now being issued for certain areas of the valley. During one downpour this morning our gutters were overwhelmed and I caught the below picture.

It was definitely not a day for outdoor activities.With this in mind I thought it would be a good time to start thinking about the 2011 garden. More specifically the 2011 dahlia patch.  I know there are many, many gardeners who have already planned this year's garden and have ordered all the seeds and supplies that they will need. But to be honest, I am still in full "hibernation" mode. While I am excited for the upcoming gardening year, I am really not mentally or physically ready to start up again. But I am also very aware that the calender says we are half way though January, so I had better at least begin to do a bit of planning. Before I got out my catalogs and started ordering up a storm, I thought it would be wise to pull out my stored dahlia tubers and check on their condition.

I have 2 full boxes of tubers in the garden storage room. Each variety is wrapped in saran wrap and labeled on the outside with masking tape. The saran wrap allows me to view the condition of the tubers without opening up the wrapping which is really nice. I went through both boxes and was pleased that I found no more than 3 or 4 tubers with rot. That means I can spend my money on new varieties that I hope to try instead of replacing old varieties that were lost in storage. I should also have plenty of tubers to donate to my local Dahlia Society for fundraising. Alright catalogs, here I come.