I'm interested to see what you receive Birch Bay. I sent them an email trying to confirm availability a couple of years ago, and never got a response. I know they have good stock. The mail-in ordering definitely needs to go. I'm not a fan of the no buttons/send email/invoice me via PayPal vendors, but that is still far more 2021 than the 'checks only' vendors. I've purchased from Lowes Dahlias (now closed) and Delightful Dahlias, and at least they always send me an email once they've received my check.

I'll probably never grow Kelvin Floodlight. Yellow is just not my jam, though I do enjoy your pics of it!

My SIL sent Christmas cards to two friends on 12/3. She didn't know that both had recently moved but still lived in the same city. Normally USPS just locates the new addresses. Not this time! SIL had the cards returned on 3/3, exactly 3 months later.

This past Saturday, I received one of my brother's packages. He had told me it required a signature. But when I answered the door, the FedEx driver only asked my name, as he moved his finger across his tablet (?)). Later my brother called to say he had received a delivery Email and said it was the first time he'd ever known me to misspell my own name.

Alan Lowe was great at communicating with his customers. He always sent some of the best looking tubers I've ever bought and most were $2-3 each. Hated to see him close.

Dan: I love Kelvin! Never bloomed last year for me, but the first year I grew dahlias this was one from a Walmart bag. It was the first to bloom and I was shocked that it's bud was the size of a golf ball. Kid1 had been helping me w the blooms and entered this one in the 4h fair and took a blue ribbon. It's a happy color for me and I hope to locate one again this year locally.

As for Christmas cards I too sent out 12/6 or so, my cousin in DC sent me a text on 1/26 - I just got it! Has lived at this address for years. Makes you wonder. Must be going by scooter and a snail.

Signatures - w covid and all have you had clerks sign your name as X on their pads so you don't touch it and leave germs? I'm like is this legit? Seems kind of sketchy to me that the card processors accept an X when they have my signature on file.

Melissa: I think your thoughts on yellow are mine to whites. Hah! I'm trying to add a few more. I'll grow the temperamental Lady Liberty again, and am adding Bride to Be, wyns ghostie, white aster, and quasi whites of: crimson snow, crazy love and citron du cap. For yellow I will do encore again as it's a gold undertone to the yellow, gloriosa, gingersnap(maybe not a yellow now that I think about it), lemon tart - and it's a wonky one blooms early and then never again. But I like the bright sassiness. Will you be growing for weddings or florists again this year? Is the boyfriend ready to help plant? Oh and my guys are John and Mark, so not your local carrier funny what you think of when you stop and do so.

I've some difficulty, with accepting yellow, unless it has some pink with it. Is that 'Encore', the yellow color, I do actually like ?
(Might just do it, if shipping isn't too much, being a nearby vendor.)
Only very limited few, of some certain white ones, would do.

I'd just like to very much so have, what I've ordered, as it's going into the 70's. As it's already almost 60, just this morning. (I want to just get them started, & in soil already !)

Update on my scouting:

Homedepot has dahlias but the 5/$14.98 bags. They have a hot mix, a cool mix, ones of one type (A Fubaki of some sort that I recall) I think there were 4 single type bags. No single dahlias in boxes or smaller bags.

Walmart: the garden center guy said he has no clue as he doesn't get advanced warning, they come direct from supplier(?) and he usually has them by now.

Menards: no dice

Ah well, it's a beautiful day to be out and about. Now that I am home I see lots of fall leaves maybe I'll go take and put in my garbage can for the heap when I use up this last fall additions.

Scarlet, I checked the web site of our local Menard's and they show dahlias in stock. Every one has an 11% mail-in rebate good until 3/13/21. They have KFL for $8.88 per 3 after the rebate. Also had Arabian Night for the same price but in a package of 5. There are some in bags of 3 for $5.32. Only variety I might be interested in would be Holland Festival. Tried buying that one from Walmart last spring but all 3 plants bloomed solid white. Good luck with your search!

Hey everyone! Looks like I'm late to the forum lol. Been busy getting all my tubers ready. I'm SOOOO excited for the weather to be looking up. It's in the 60s here today (north of Pittsburgh) sadly this will be the nicest day for awhile. Tomorrow looks pretty good, but after that back down the the 40s and lower 50s.

Also I can definitely report that I overdid myself with tuber buying over the winter... and I still have one more sale I want to get a few from

But on the bright side, I made organization my little garden new years resolution, so I have everything mapped out by height in Google sheets. Looks like I'll be losing some more lawn hahaha.

I am so excited to see everyone's blooms this year! Looking forward to sunshine and the happiness it brings with it!

And since the recent conversation seems to be a little bit about color preferences, I thought I'd share my color wheel I made. This is only new varieties that I bought for 2021 and it's already missing a couple new ones (Peaches n Cream and Chimacum Nadjae) also includes a couple I recently found out got cut from an order :(

These are the technical ADS color classifications which definitely offer room for argument lol, but it looks like I'm big into the dark and light blends which I like to think of as sunset and sunrise dahlias. Not so much straight purple or red for me!

I feel the same as you do about white, Scarlet. A couple years ago I grew several white dahlias for a wedding. They do brighten up the garden, but bugs are always attracted to them, and they do sometimes look dirty. I liked 2 of them enough to keep them in my garden (Blizzard and Korb River Bend Jean), but purchased ZERO whites this year. I try harder to find yellows I might like, but a lot of it has to do with form, if it's a stellar or laciniated I am more likely to give it a whirl.

I'm already trying to figure out when I'm going to plant- Mother's Day is early this year. I don't enlist my boyfriend's help to plant, but he would if I asked. A few years ago he posted some pics on FB of his dahlias (my extra tubers, all labeled and individually packaged by yours truly), and half of their names were wrong on the pics. He said he moved some things around and forgot to update his garden layout. If that happens in my garden, I want to be sure the only person to blame is me.

Shawn, I think Scarlet's "Encore" is up your alley! 70s already, woohoo!! Understandable that you would like to get growing before it gets too hot.

Nice scouting, too, Scarlet! I will probably swing by Lowe's and Menards today, so will have to check and see if any dahlias have magically appeared. Once Menards moves the seeds out of the store (last week) and into the garden center, the tubers and other bulbs usually appear shortly thereafter.

mary: look at you! Are you raising flowers for a possible celebration yet? We need good things to celebrate in 2021 I'm going to tear out more grass too, I think we'll rent a sod cutter. As the hubs says it's probably worth it no matter the price as he's the one that digs and lifts. I direct quite well. yes look forward to your blooms.

Dan: sadly when I look at menards and have my store plugged in they still are either discontinued or out of stock. they had pulled all their tubers/summer bulbs off-line about three weeks ago, now they are back up but still the same-o. When I went in today they still only had seed packets and camping gear in those areas and in that center aisle by them hand tools, hand sani, wipes and toy cars. I will haunt every other week as time permits. Let me know if you find any holy grail type tubers!

AM: probably just jinxed myself but I raked off my front bed and east side of the house and collected leaves for future use in my compost heap. I'm sure it will dump snow but I'm ready for spring.

I know I had heard something a few weeks ago we will probably have a st. Paddy day surprise as per usual if it's warm and beautiful we get dumped with snow or vice versa from cold to a heat up. I know our DNR is monitoring and we may be moving very quickly into a high fire season. I know last spring and fall there were some issues with burns taking off. Ugh who needs that so soon?

So yes - excited to start hearing as you warmer climes people get your boxes. I had the realization yesterday that in my planning I didn't make sure I might have some extra space just in case I would get a freebie on the smaller vendors I ordered from. Well, I guess a bridge to cross if it happens!

I thought I'd give Brent & Becky's a try. They aren't really all that far away, (as the old saying goes, "as the Crow flies.") Just up to the next peninsula on the map.
But driving, means going what seems to me, as "way up North," only to end up going Southbound, "Down in the Boondocks "!
They usually hold an annual Daffodil Festival. Though easy to get "Lost" up around there.

Though I did used to know the way, to get all the way to the very end of the Point, (for very fresh picked Blue crab, meat or shucked oysters, in a jar & just to keep the "Road" above sea level, they'd have to dump those oyster shells, as fill.

So, yep. Yellow 'Encore', it is. Plus I took a liking to the dark 'Nuit d'Ete' (Think I've got that spelt right !)
Totally missed out, on that 'Lindsay Michelle'. Darn it all !
Just in time, to get some of those, at least. Early April is their ship time, for my Zone.
Too bad they don't do 'delivery by drone." haha
Any truck, would do fine.

Melissa: yes - the whites I'm always hesitant on but I thought I could try this year and see what happens. I know lady Liberty bloomed two days before frost. If you ideas and what type of magic one needs to work on late season bloomers let me know. I do like the look of ghostie and hope it does well. So I'll try. I'm also companion planting for pests both nasturtiums and marigolds. One handles the dreaded JBs and the other helps with something else that drive me batty last year - yes the memory fails me and I'm not that old! But I do hope this helps some.

Yes report back what you find on your trip through. I'm looking locally for those 1 or 2 to a bag types and evidently that so far is evading me. I knew I probably should have ordered a new Kelvin. Oh and thanks for the purple ones. Boogie nights is quite pretty!

Lol @ScarletTricycle you crack me up! Nothing definite yet. Fingers crossed though. Maybe in 2022 lol.

I've seen dahlias at my local Wal-Mart and Lowes. They seem to be getting a lot more of a variety than several years ago when I bought the bulk of my dahlias there. I was able to resist temptation, but got a couple bleeding hearts and bags of gladiolus bulbs. Might go back if I have any holes at the end. I think I saw Penhill Watermelon.

I have a hard time with whites too. I think we all do. The bugs are so annoying. The whites I grew last year will be making a return:

Crazy Love- I've had this one since 2017- was such a good tuber producer then I lost all but one in 2019 to my flood issues, plant did ok in 2020 but only gave me a couple good tubers this year... hopefully it does better. I always see this one at Lowes and Wal-Mart if anyone wants to try it.

Bridezilla and Bride to Be- new last year seem to be decent but I did use organza bags some on them to keep the bugs away.
Then Sterling Silver and Lady Liberty- I don't recommend these haha. more bugs. more floppy blooms. but gosh they are so darn pretty, so I'm growing them again. I figured while I am young and don't have any kids I can put up with a couple high maintenance dahlias

New ones I'm adding are "White Ball" so who knows what that means but I bought it from a local flower farm so I am hopeful that it does well here. Center Court- heard good things. Beaucon White- bought on accident.... looks too pretty to be true. expecting bugs haha. and then Iceberg which I actually had in 2019. Only got one bloom and it was gorgeous so hoping for nice blooms this time, but we shall see! I tried to get Blizzard, but it was sold out on the sale I was trying to get it at. Perhaps I'll find it again before planting time.

Mary: hey I'm thinking good thoughts for you! See I'm glad you too find Lady Liberty a pain in the wazoo. But she is a pretty one.

I bought one tuber I haven't been able to find any photos on so I'm unsure what I am getting - Verkist Aristocrat.I believe it's of a red variety but what shade I do not know.

I'm glad I made you laugh.

I've never heard of that one. Will be exciting when you can share it with us this summer!

Sterling Silver is basically the same way as Lady Liberty. They are so similar. I could not tell them apart!

I love the color chart, Mary! I glanced at my 2021 Pinterest board, and it appears that my newcomers are leaning heavily towards the pink, orange, and purple range...sunrise/sunset colors are about right.

My Menards does have dahlia tubers out on display. I wonder if it is zone related? I thought about buying Akita, or this mix that had no name other than whatever lame name the vendor came up with. Pretty sure it was Wine Eyed Jill/Double Jill, but the lack of clear labeling annoyed me. Kelvin Floodlight and Color Spectacle were there, something labeled as Penhill Dark Monarch that didn't look the least bit like it on the picture, oh and some ranunculus almost jumped in my cart, but I checked myself. I might need to invest in a jeweler's loop like Dan uses, so I can look more closely for sprouts/eyes next time. Don't really need any more tubers as it is, but a friend just posted their 'what's left' list, and I sprung for Seabeck's Hilda, Sternschnuppe (white and yellow), and an extra tuber of Hollyhill Finlandia. It is pretty early to start buying composted manure/top soil, but I always have to make multiple trips, so I filled my cart to the brim and called it good for the day. Some of the compost was still partially frozen!

Thanks for that update. Johnny's headquarters are right up the road from me, maybe I should go bang on the door and say look dude people want their tubers. Grrrrrrr.

Then I'll put Kelvin on my list to look there. Thank you for that. Personally I wonder if they too are sitting on a truck yet to be unpacked. I'll hope!

I'm pretty sure you'll be able to get KF there. My dad is a manager at Lowes, and though he stays very far away from the garden center, I've learned that dahlia tubers are the last to go out on the floor.

If anyone is still looking for tubers, check out this website!

https://zachandelisdahliatuber...

and before anyone takes time to look at it, please know I'm being snarky. They "renamed" the dahlias they're selling, like dahlia names aren't already super confusing and memory overload isn't already present.

Melissa, I stumbled upon that site last week. Many of the photos look familiar but I didn't recognize a single name.

I think I've seen that one before or there is another site similar w the same type of naming conventions (are the names Hindi I think?) I ran into last year and thought kind of different w the names but I had seen the blooms before. Guess I need to look at Devi there - because it kind of looks like Kelvin. I'll just stick to looking for Kelvin locally.

I stand corrected I just read on their website each dahlia is given a Sanskrit name but if they know the original name they will provide it.