storing dahlias and glads

This was the first time I've ever grown either flower. I especially loved the gladiolus!
My zone is right on the gamble line for over wintering these guys so I figured I'd better dig them up. I took a few old ziploc bags and cut holes in them.
The dahlias came up easy and I couldn't believe how much bigger the corms (or are they rhizomes?) got. Some pieces broke off individually but they were pretty huge so I think they'll be fine to plant next year.
The gladiolus were 8" deep so they wouldn't need staking, so they required a bit more digging. I was so surprised how many little "baby" corms were attached to each large one. They were sprinkling all over the place. I was able to find the little shriveled old corm and pull it off the bottom of each large new one. It looked like a really dried up fig. I was thrilled that three or four of the 12 glads multiplied into two large corms instead of just one new one. I love the glads so much that I was really hoping they would multiply.
I'm going to let them dry out a bit on the porch and then I'll store them in a warmer spot in our garage until Spring.

first garden work in months

My first trimester sickness is gone, and with it went my stamina and motivation. But today I dragged myself back to the garden. It felt great. I cleaned out dead squash vines, basil, peppers, and old beets. I dug up all my dahlia and gladiolus corms. And I turned over my potato bed. I forgot that I left a ton of fingerlings in the dirt! And although something ate the tops off all my sweet potato plants, I found one baby white sweet.

I cleared a nice space to plant some hardneck garlic from my friend, Shawn. There are still a couple Swiss chard plants happily growing and some carrots left, too. I still have to contend with the tomato bed. There are a bunch of cages twined together and tangled with 32 dead tomato plants. It's a mess.