Learning is never a waste of time and we all benefit from it.

I can sit on the floor all winter and clean up clumps. Not exciting for those who don't garden but fine for the gardeners.

I echo Arlene's sentiments- your optimism and positivity have definitely been a breath of fresh air, Scarlet.

I organized my tubers alphabetically last week, and they all looked pretty good thus far. I placed a couple of tuber orders this weekend. I really missed 'Mambo' in my garden, so am getting it back, and will also try out Ketchup & Mustard, Caitlin's Joy, Brown Sugar, and Lakeview Lucky. I still look at newly opened vendors, but a lot of the time I just feel "meh" about the offerings. Not sure if I've just gotten snotty OR if I have finally gotten my bad buying behavior under control!

Things are crazy here again with COVID, the same tensions from this Summer rising up again, and just negativity everywhere. It makes me really miss just disappearing into the garden and tuning the world out. Good thing Winter is for dreaming...

Crazy covid numbers here as well. And Melissa - the crazy in Bellevue? Cousins are there. Good gravy - stay well and safe. Are the schools open?

Arlene: hope the rain stops so you can get the rest in the house and be done w that job. Start dreaming of your color palettes for next year!

Just finished picking seeds out of everything and getting into envelopes. I'll evidently be doing a lot of winter sowing of perennials. I had a bumper crop of helenium, liatris and coneflower sees this year. I'll start saving my milk jugs and see what I can do come January or February. They can stratify on their own. And as far as I could tell the few dahlias I tried to breed produced zero seeds. Hah. I'll know a little bit more next year and will try to start earlier. As I was smashing up the heads - man that cut dahlia smell emitted but good. Nice memory.

One of the few from 2020 I won't mind remembering.

Hope everyone is well.

You like the dahlia smell Scarlet? I love dahlias but I wish they smelled better! My 3 year claims to love the smell but she also chews on balloons.

Nope hate the smell, but the smell triggers thoughts of happy blooms. Besides to me it smells like part of the carrot family.

Scarlet- yes, schools are still open here, but the districts are starting to talk about going back to remote learning. The crazy in Bellevue (interesting that your cousins live there) was insane. My boyfriend and I were just chilling at my house, staying tuned to the unrest going on downtown at Police HQ. There was a report of a UHaul with explosives going off, then a minute later they were reporting an active shooter. It is sad that two people who were just simply working at Sonic on a Saturday night lost their lives due to a lunatic. Stay safe up there, too!

I must be a special kind of strange, because I like the smell of the dahlia stems when I cut them.

Melissa: I've got a bunch on either side of the Missouri River as myself moms from the vicinity. Most are In or near Omaha but still a few in Bellevue. I'm sorry the world is just so right now. Yes stay well and safe. I'm still looking for the last vendor to post something or anything! Yay for finding a few to add to your collection. Look forward to seeing them next year.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING all my dahlias friends! May you have as an enjoyable day as you can in this current world of stay away.

Thank you for being such helpful people to me this past season.

Thank you for being such an uplifting part of our own dahlia world, Scarlet.

Yesterday I got up the last dahlias! Good reason to celebrate.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Morning all! Did my monthly dahlia tuber check Tossed 4 of them but otherwise everyone is good and firm. The one I'm having issues with mainly is raspberry punch. But that one had long and slender tubers. I did notice some sprouts as well. Or eyes that are thinking about it and are pronounced. Yay I guess I split ok! Will see of course closer to when I'll pot on up but I'm happy to see some at least.

Hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving. 24 days until Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you Dahlia friends! May you have a lovely season of celebrating as best you can. Thank you for all your help this past year!

And thank you for your uplifting and positive outlook. Merry Christmas to all dahlia lovers and all gardeners past and present.

The shiloe Noelle you posted is just divinely gorgeous! Many Shiloe Noelle comes with lavender center. It's hard to find the Shiloe Noelle with pink center. May I ask where did you purchase this Shiloe Noelle tuber? Thanks!

psudan said:These blooms are repeats but look better than when I first posted them. The Shiloh Noelle blooms are the best I've had in years, maybe because I bought new stock. Bradley Aaron is another purple bloom I can't photo. Eagle's Sugar Plum is blooming it's head off.

Shiloh Noelle


Bradley Aaron


Eagle's Sugar Plum


Elsie Huston

This SN came from Longfield Gardens. The color of the inner petals can vary due to weather, soil PH, fertilizer, etc. And late season blooms like these are often brighter than summer blooms. Dahlia Addicts listed more than a dozen suppliers who sold SN this year, though most have sold out. Good luck with your search!

Hi, Dan! Your Gitt's perfection looks fabulous! Where did you purchase the tuber for this Gitt's Perfection?

I bought Gitt's perfection from brecks serveral years ago, it turned out to be pure white and didn't look like Gitt's Perfection at all!

The first two times I grew GP I got all-white blooms, too.

This GP came from a Cali re-seller and was one I ordered using a credit for the previous year's mislabels. They have since closed their business due to receiving crates of mislabeled dahlias from their unreliable supplier and having to deal with two years of customer complaints. Shame since they seemed like such nice people.