From my experience all dahlias need staking except for the small bedding variety which are 12-16" tall, but with those you won't have large blooms. When I started growing them, I knew that staking would be part of the exercise, otherwise you just get a tangled floppy mess, and soggy blooms as well. For me, it's worth the effort.

I ordered a dahlia last spring from White Flower Farm called 'Karma Choc' that has very thick stalks and didn't need any staking until the end of the summer when some of the smaller branches got a bit floppy. You might try this dahlia. It has a beautiful full flower and is as close as you will come to having a dahlia that doesn't need staking. The only problem with this dahlia, from my perspective, is that it is not resistant to powdery mildew, which got worse as the summer went along. Still I plan to overwinter the bulb and try again next year.

Jerry

Swan Island Dahlias do not stake their dahlias. They grow them to about 2 feet tall and then mow them down to about 1 foot tall to create laterals. They also push the soil up and around the base of the plants as they come up. The plants are held up by the extra soil. They also get extra drainage from the mounded soil.

Most gardeners tie up their dahlias. It is not nearly as time consuming as one would assume. They only need to be tied to the stakes two or three times. If you leave your dahlias in the ground during the Winter, they will come up with weaker stalks. Best to dig and divide them each year.