Which ones would you recommend for a beginner ?

Not icky about size or style just want to succeed on the first try.

Visit your local Lowe's, Home Depot, or Walmart. Then select a bag or two that you like. It may be habit forming!

I didn't find the usual "Jumbo Dahlias - mixed bag of 4" that were always a staple here but it's still early. Remember to stake any dahlias as you plant them so you won't stab the tubers as they grow to the height of requiring stakes.

This is from 2012 just to give you an example of a few I've bought from HD.

Lavanda, if you have a Costco near you check there. They usually have bags with 6-10 tubers for around $20. They are a good deal. If you don't like what you end up with you haven't spent too much.

I saw some like that in the feed and seed store yesterday. I had to cover my eyes and walk the other way. LOL.

Vancouver was definitely the best of them.

This is on my want list already, but maybe I will luck out and find it at the feed and seed or Lowe's. I bought four plant supports last time I went so I was thinking if I buy four every time I go, I should have enough for summer.

What kind of plant supports? Peony rings? I should use mine for some dahlias and see if it makes it easier for me since I usually use single stakes and have to keep tying the dahlias to the supports. (Boring).

Yes, Peony rings. I was looking around on Swan Island, I looked up some dahlias in the database and I think I added 2. My want list is getting bigger!

BUT .... but .. what size, ?

Dinner plate, large, medium or small ?

Do they all require stakes ?

Is it necessary to mollycoddle hem ?

@Lavonda, it doesn't matter. Just something cheap to practice with. As far as stakes go it just depends on how much money you are willing to spend. I was using tomato cages when I started off but now I like the peony rings because I use them a lot for other things. The tomato cages are cheap at Walmart (Dahlias too) and if you put them in when you plant something, the plant will fill up the ring and it is barely noticeable. Check out these coneflowers!

Good thanks, I have mater cages !

Just thought the ones with smaller blooms might not droop.

I think they all do.

You might want to search for a local dahlia association. Here in Michigan I found the Michigan Dahlia Association. They have yearly tuber sales. The good thing is that the tubers they sell did well locally.

Great idea, Frank! Our local dahlia society is 90 minutes away so I don't go but I would if it were much closer.

I've never seen any dahlias that are over 4' at any store though they are sold online. The taller ones can be knocked over in a strong gust of wind and that's why we're supposed to keep them tied (several times) to the stake.

This one is 'Robert Too' and shown to be 4' tall with blooms from 2 to 3". In the collage you can see it barely reaches the top of the old post and rail fence, which was 3' tall. Quite often it's an experiment to grow them the first time. Then you get to keep records so you'll know better the next year.



This one is 'Peaches 'n Cream' (also sold as Peaches and Cream and Peaches 'n' Cream) and the packaging said it was 18" tall. Mine hit 6' tall so I'm glad I went with my gut instinct (after checking the plant database here and DG's site) and put them at the back, not in front!

Beautiful, I was looking around and most websites say between 4.5 and 6 feet. Where did you buy the packages? I was reading that they are suitable to grow as a house plant? Is that true of all dahlias or just this one?
If I drove for 90 minutes I would not be in my zone anymore so purchases would not be good. I know up north people are looking for HARDY, and the more certain the better. Around here any old thing will grow happily. I don't always get a good cold spell so some dormants are not too happy. This year they should be happy, very happy. They should be having a party in the soil, hip, hip happy!

You said, "...most websites say between 4.5 and 6 feet" but for which dahlia? Peaches 'n Cream? They are not suitable, at all, as houseplants. In zone 7 and under there is no certainty of any dahlia being hardy. When it is hardy in zones 8 to 11 they still have to be dug up to divide them or they grow themselves to death. I've had it happen. The clump just grows larger and larger and the tubers can't get enough food.

I bought Robert Too from Lynch Creek Dahlias. Peaches 'n Cream came from HD, Walmart or Lowe's.

Yes, Peaches and Cream!! Check out DG under 'other details' it says suitable for growing indoors. LOL. It does not surprise me because they often have weird data.
I bought a tree for my back yard based on their data of 15-20 feet and it was wrong, it gets 40 feet tall and it is too big for me to dig up at this point. I reported it last year, their own vendors even had it listed as 40 feet but no one bothered to verify the data, they just leave it there till someone, like me disputes it. I do not have time for that. I look every thing up at 4 places now and I do not dispute anything. If their data is wrong it will stay wrong. For one thing I can not click on edit like here, so I do change stuff here if I find it is wrong and one of the administrators will verify every single thing I do or change, as it should be.
Thanks for the information about the clumps, I did not know anything could grow it self to death, what kind of food do the tubers like anyway?? Bone-meal??

The database is just a few years old and people entering information can be in error just as packaging details can be wrong. I can't imagine those in charge verifying each detail of each of the more than 600,000 plants so it's left to us to report mistakes.

I'll go to Peaches 'n Cream and edit the height by notifying the Administrators of the error.

Bone meal is ideal. They aren't big feeders.