This variety is sold in big box stores and they get it it from Holland. Some mail order sources from the "Dahlia Big List":

CAFE AU LAIT Endless Summer Flowers

CAFE AU LAIT Santiago Dahlias

CAFE AU LAIT Van Bourgondien

CAFÃ AU LAIT FGL Dahlias

CAFÃ AU LAIT Saint-Anicet Productions

CAFÃ AU LAIT Sid's Dahlias

CAFÃ AU LAIT Veseys

I found it at Costco this spring. They sold it in a bag that had 5 tubers of Cafe au Lait and 5 tubers of Akita for about $13. I haven't seen a bloom on CAL yet but Akita is blooming very well. I think CAL either needs more water than the rest of my dahlias or it is more sensitive to the heat, or both. I've bumped up the water to the poor plants as they wilt so fast when it gets hot. Maybe you'll have better luck since you are a zone cooler than me but I wanted to give you a head's up since you are on the warmer side.

Annabeth

Thanks you two. I completely forgot I started this post. lol! Old and brain dead. ha ha! Thanks for the list of supplier that sell it. I will look into it. How do I get the Big List? Thanks too for letting me know about the how it responds to the heat. My dahlias have done horribly this year and I hope they survive this heat but I haven't had hardly any blooms. I haven't been good to water either and we have been sooooo dry. Thanks again, Judy

PrettyPetals--I know what you mean about the dahlias surviving the heat. We had a day last week where the temp hit 114.6 and the relative humidity was at 13%. Even though the dirt the dahlias were growing in was visibly moist, the dahlias were still wilting. I got my hose out and overhead watered but I was getting overheated. The watering helped the dahlias a little but they didn't recover until nightfall. No surprise there.

The Big List is put together by the Colorado Dahlia Society but everyone in the country uses it (as evidenced here on this forum). They list North American dahlia varieties by name and match them to vendors who sell them. That's it. The list doesn't go into other details such as color, size, type, etc. You just scroll down the alphabetical list until you find the variety you are interested in and then go to the vendors. They have all the vendors websites linked at the top. I find the list to be so long that when you get far enough down it is easier to open a new tab in your browser and start a second tab of the Big List in that leaving the vendors' links up top. When you find your variety, say Vanquisher, you click in the second tab and go to the link of the vendor in that tab. It is much faster than scrolling all the way from V back thru A to get to the vendor list. By that time I usually forget what vendor I wanted to look at.

Good Luck with your hunt. I wanted CAL really bad and found that most of the vendors were from Canada and some wouldn't even ship to the US. Therefore, I was quite happy when I saw it at Costco this spring. If you don't find it next spring, maybe we can arrange a tuber trade. I usually divide mine in April but I could probably do it sooner than that, if necessary.

Annabeth

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

Thanks Annabeth. Sorry for getting back to this post so late. I keep forgetting about starting this one. You are very sweet for giving me all that info. I will try to go check it out now and see if I can find it. I appreciate you offering a tuber trade but I couldn't tell you the names of the ones I have. I don't usually keep up with the names and this year I haven't had hardly any of them bloom. Not sure if its the heat & lack of rain or what. So disappointing though. I was hoping when it cooled off a bit I might get some blooms but it just won't cool off any. I'm usually not ready for winter but I have to say I am this year. lol! Thanks again and take care, Judy