Although I�ve grown Dahlias for the past several years I have to be candid in saying I unfortunately never took it seriously. It�s to my on fault for a number of reasons and I always envy the veteran growers when it comes to their knowledge.

Even though I�ve had success planting and storing over those years I�d like to point out that I live just outside of Syracuse NY and we started off the season with probably the worst (by way of wettest) early Spring I�ve ever experienced.

Being in some sense the novice I am I had loads of problems trying to keep up with the weather situations going from cold and damp to 90 degree heat. It took its toll and sadly caused me to lose some of my prized plants. Now we�re dealing with wet weather again for the past several weeks since Irene.

In late May and early June I purchased a few tubers that were on Sale at Home Dept. It was as a means of salvaging some of the hope I lost during the early season. The tubers in the bag looked more like they were ready for the compost pile. I cut back the overgrowth, lightly sprayed for two or three days to get out the wilt and then started them in doors in pots.

After they got off to a good start I transplanted. In fact I have to be honest the ones I purchased that way did very well and beyond my expectations. Overall in fact they did better than a majority of my yearly carry overs that as of yet haven�t even bloomed at it�s Oct 4th.

To make a long story short several of the Home Depot tubers were mixed. Out of those I got back two Akita�s that I lost, a Thomas Edison, a beautiful informal decorative Mauve/Purple, a real healthy looking Duet and one that I found strikingly beautiful that I�ve never seen before. Not even when I�ve attended the local State Fair Show.

I have a Swan Island Catalog that shows a similar looking one called an ID Ryn Fou that�s listed as - A - 8" to 10". It�s apparent mine is ID but only 6" across is it the same plant pictured below?

Thanks in Advance

Jim

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