How very pretty! Love the intense colors of the purples and oranges. Seeing Hillcrest Kismet again is like seeing an old friend I have been missing. (I thought she had survived last winter's freeze but it turned out to be Devon Seattle instead. Beautiful too, but not the lovely warm colors of HK.
Your Caribbean Cocktail is very similar in colors to Carmen Fiesta, one of my favorites. Does the last one always have the open center, or is that just its "end of season" look?

Thanks Lizalily.

I was checking out Canadian suppliers of tubers last night and saw the Carribean Cocktail listed on at least one site under another name...? I got this one from Sid's Dahlias. Sad that I lost it, but then again it wasn't a favourite as the others I got from him.

I have to say my all time favourite this year was Caballero. I'll try to post a photo later.

The last one does have the open center all season. I bought it at a Big Box store and it was suppose to be totally different. :O)

Question:

Does your Caribbean Cocktail start off more yellow and then morph into more orange? I have the exact same looking leaves (very distinct) on a dahlia by another name (I know because I never ordered a Caribbean cocktail) which I may have gotten from Connells 4 years ago.

I planted it in my orange section but every flower started off almost pure yellow before fading into that beautiful soft orange.

I was under the impression it was a Cheyenne Chief (or a Cheyenne something)but I no longer have a Connells catalog to check it. It is still blooming heartily also and we are only a week away from November!.

David,
It actually has a peach hue to it. Go figure. :O) That photo was taken as night was falling so the color on that one if a bit off.

OMG! I only saw this today! Wow - thanks so much! Lovely, lovely blooms. I was recently looking over some of my previous years photos: I had some gorgeous ones - some I lost over winter - others simply didn't bloom again (too late).
And, I hear you about back issues. As I write I have so many plants to take out and store, but the weather is getting worse, and I fear I may lose them all. DH has offered to do the job while I am at work, but I said no, thinking he won't do it properly. But - maybe he can save some??? Hmm...

Thanks again, Tiffy!!

Anna,

If there was more of a chance of saving some with DH's help, then I would do it. All you need is an eye and out of all the tubers you probably have, he can't ruin them all - can he?? Just show him how to get one out of the ground and he can do the rest. Maybe he can even clean them off?

Yep, I'd go for hubby's help! :O)

I learned from Swan Island to choose the low growing varieties for those of us in the colder climates. They told me that all the low growing varieties were early bloomers. I had quite a few dahlias that did not bloom as well as they should have this year because they were later bloomers and I ran out of summer! Fall came quickly here in upstate NY. They also told me they're going to incorporate this type of information on their website at some point. From now on I'll avoid anything over 4 feet. For me, they get ridiculously tall and I plant them in as much sun as I possibly can.