You can always prune your first center shoot to make your plant more bush-like. This will stunt obtaining maximum size dinner plate dahlias though. Also, you can train your shoots by tying them down, etc. Your stems will be curved, and you'll need to support your blooms sometimes.

[url=http://www.ethankolasinski.com/photography.html]Ethan Kolasinski[/url]

Here is a link that might be useful: ethankolasinski.com

Of the AA size I grow (dinnerplates), the shorter ones that come to mind are: Ivory Palaces (yellow), Clara Huston (orange), Shilo Noelle (white w/lavender shading). While it is true that if you pinch the growing tip they will not grow as tall, if you buy one of the varieties that are extremely tall, it still will not keep them below 4'.

Teresa

Two others you might consider are Bella S, AA-ID-L which gets about 3 1/2 feet (great picture at Arrowhead Gardens) and Lula Pattie, AA-ID-W 3 feet (picture at Ferncliff Gardens along with pictures of Clara Huston & Ivory Palaces).

Here is a link that might be useful: The Big List

so then my Pennsgift bush will be a monster right?

Vera Seyfang (AAFD), Iceberg (AAID), Lavender Ruffles (AAID), Purple Taiheijo (AAID).

All are 12" and 36" tall. I have grown Purple Taiheijo before and love it, but the flowers can tend to get buried in the foliage. I am growing it again this year, as well as Iceberg and Lavender Ruffles. These are all from Swan Island Dahlias.

Cheers,
Russ

If you are looking for something available from local sources I would recommend Kelvin Floodlight. Kelvin is probably the most widely distributed and easiest to grow dahlia on the planet. For me he grows to about 40in(100cm) and if I don't top him, the first bloom will be around 12in(30cm)in diameter with subsequent blooms running to about 10in(25cm).

Kelvin does not do well in dahlia shows, but if you plant him anywhere close to passing traffic you will have people coming to you door and asking 'What is that!"

I do support Kelvin and I use the inverted plant cage method described at: http://dahlias.net/dahwebpg/Support/NoStake.htm .

Here is a link that might be useful: How to find great dahlias for your garden