I don't find much difference between varieties, only between breeders and sources of tubers. I have about 150 dahlias though they run mostly to Waterlily, formal decorative and ball types. My problem is that the frilly ones do not hold up well when cut and I run a cut flower business.

Last year I lost 2/3 of my dahlias to our weird winter, but it seemed to depend more on where they were then on what variety they were. That said, the ones I can't seem to kill even if I want to are Shadow Cat, Star's favorite, Edinborough, Chilson's Pride, a big dark red one sold about 10-12 years ago at Costco that we call "Big Red" for lack of a better name, French Doll and a lavender blue early one named Bluebeard that I got from Dutch Gardens a number of years ago.

My Love, Robinhood, Kasasagi, Pride of Place, Summer Night or Nuit d'ete, Chimacum Topaz, and Sweet Dreams all keep really well in our area. Second the motion on Chilson's Pride and French Doll.

Email me if you want more ideas/colors/forms that do well in the eastern suburbs.

Liza, I thought our winter of 09 was one of the mildest in memory. Don't even remember any snow. I was out weeding in February. Spring was the real monster for me this year, but things are going full swing now.

Poochella, you are only remembering the good parts of last winter, LOL. Remember the sudden freeze up in December that lasted 2 weeks then was followed by the abnormally warm spring which was followed by a freeze that actually nipped the leaves on my peonies, the first time I have had that happen too! I lost roses at the soil line that I have never had trouble with before, fungus and blights like I hope never to see again! But I believe these tubers froze in that December very cold spell. Perhaps you had snow to protect your garden. Ww did not have more then a dusting. The bed slopes slightly to the North, and the sun never reached that part of the ground to warm it at near the solstice. so it stayed frozen for 2 weeks. Usually I mulch them over the winter but due to health issues did not get that done last year either. I had to buy 100 new tubers this spring, but sure am enjoying some new ones to play with! I bought many of Swan Islands new introductions and I think they were worth every penny!

Wonderful start! I'm assembling my list.

I remember the ground being overly wet last winter. And again this spring, after I planted in between spring rains. Lost tubers in both! Lost most of my 2009 tubers over the winter, and lost some that I purchased in spring 2010 to the spring rains. I hope that this is an anomaly but fear that there is indeed a weather change.

Was able to get some tubers from my mother's assisted living facility where I've been planting a garden annually. That 2009 garden was on a sheltered hill, and it drained well. The problem with these tubers was mistagging. Apparently my tags had been moved about. What I thought was Audry Grace was Annette C. What I thought was Just Peachy was Brassy. What I thought was Versa turned out to be Tahiti Sunrise. And since not everything I planted from that garden has bloomed yet, the surprises may still coming. I'm hoping for some happy surprises. Some of my favorites were lost in both 2009 and what I tried to replace them with when I purchased. Hopefully some of these lost varieties will show up as mistagged!

I came home from a business trip tonight to a wonderful surprise. My new Inland Dynasty (a variety that was on my "have to have" list from the Everett Dahlia show last year) was magnificent!!! And NW huge! I'm gonna love this one. Hope it's hale and hearty because I want it to be a keeper.

Phyllis

"I had to buy 100 new tubers this spring, but sure am enjoying some new ones to play with! I bought many of Swan Islands new introductions and I think they were worth every penny!"

Liza Lily, I am fascinated by the above statement. But that begs some questions for me.

1. You said you were a market flower grower, so I assume that you bought mainly dahlias that Swan Island stated were good cutting varieties, right?

2. Specifically, which ones are you liking best so far?

3. Did you buy 100 different varieties, planning to divide them next season or did you have to buy 3 or 4 of a kind to get a good quantity of cuts?

4. I am really curious about a couple of new varieties from 2010 as well as 2009. Specifically, I am curious about the 2009 introduction Nick Sr. and the 2010 intros of Bluetiful, Diva, Debora Renae, and Honeymoon. Did you get any of these?

Thanks so much for your input.

Annabeth

I bought dahlias that in my own experience have the characteristics of good cut flower dahlias. Our flower stands are outdoors and get way too hot in the summer so choosing flowers that will stand up to that is of utmost importance. I prefer waterlily and ball types that have a heavy substance to their petals. I also prefer mostly smaller sizes, with a few spectacular big flowers for special events. Also, in our experience, some colors sell better then others, i.e. it is hard to sell pink bouquets of any kind! Part of that may be the shade on my main stand as it is back under overhanging eaves of a large old country store. This is better for the flowers but makes difficult lighting conditions, so the brighter my bouquets the better they sell! Anyhow, those are the criteria I used. I would have probably not boughten a dahlia that was not listed as a good cut flower at Swan Island.

I bought nearly all different dahlias. I have space for 130 and that is that. Any others have to go into my personal garden among the lilies and roses. That is also where I put the ones that failed as cut flowers but are pretty to look at, as well as the anemones and orchid types. I leave my dahlias in place for 3 years, and then divide all of them. I did have about 30 that survived last winter.

Oe the new introductions, I especially am liking Sheer Heaven, Diva, Bluetiful, Mango Madness, Andrew Charles. Other favorites are Bahama Mama, Dazzle Me, Fatima,Jordon Nicole, Loverboy, Moonstruck,Nicholas,Polyvention Supreme, White Polyvention, Rip City, Ripples, Sandia Shomei, September Morn, Sun Kissed, Vessio Meggos,Voodoo, Wildwood MArie, Joel Lousisa, Ahoy Matey, Bracken Lorelie and can't remember the names of the others.

I have other favorites among the Cowlitz River Dahlias, Clack's, Dan's Dahlias, particularly Sunshine Paul who just oped its first flower this week. Most of CRD flowers have not started blooming yet in this strangely cool summer, but are perking along.Ask me next month and I will probably have a whole new list :-) .

Thanks for the answers, Lizalily! As a matter of fact, I just got back from visiting Swan Island Dahlias at their Dahlia Festival. I really liked Diva and Honeymoon especially. Nick Sr. was awesome as well. My biggest surprise was how beautiful Innocence was. It is a pale pink and white one but was absolutley fabulous. I believe it is an older variety. Plum Pretty was another that really caught my eye. Also, the anemone Platinum Blonde was very interesting and I wonder why it is not considered a cutter by them, except that maybe it doesn't have a long vase life. It sure was plentiful and long-stemmed. Loverboy was a standout as well. And as weird as they are, I was quite interested in Junkyard Dog and Mars.

I realized that I didn't take many pictures of the individual varieties since I was taking written notes and I was too caught up in the flowers to want to bother with my camera while in the indoor displays. I did take some general pics of the fields that I'll have to post soon. I hope others will take pics too and post them here.

Thanks for the answers!