After seeing Bishop of Llandgraff in England and a number of beautiful cactus Dahlias at Monet's garden in France, I'm thinking of adding Dahlias to my roofdeck garden next year. Unfortunately, there are a billion varieties and I'm not familiar with any of them.

My basic criteria are:

(1) Big, beautiful flowers

(2) Able to grow in a large pot

(3) Sturdy (no staking necessary, if possible)

(4) Not too tall (it gets a little windy up there every once and a while)

(5) Disease resistant.

(6) Interesting/colorful foliage is a plus.

In terms of color, my tastes generally run to red/orange/peach/apricot colors, but anything beautiful will do.

Also, if you know any good tips for growing them in pots, or really good (and/or really cheap) vendors, that would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

JPW.

Here is a link that might be useful: Roofdeck '07 slideshow