Mine are doing poorly too.

I have to say the same thing for mine....usually I have beautiful blooms by this time or at least there are buds on the plant to forecast beautiful flowers. This year - terrible. The actual plants are short and the flowers are very small and short stemmed. I think it's the hot dry weather - dahalias like cool yet sunny weather with a lot of rain. We definitely did not get that this year.

As the US got the same weather as we did - I'm going to check out the dahlia forum to see what they're saying.

My Dahlias are similar as of mid August just beginning to bloom and the plants are short.

Mine are doing quite well. Started flowering in early Aug...Quite a few flowers and some are very tall. I'm in zone. 4 ( Upstate NY ).

My dahlias are not as prolific as usual. I am getting good bloom, but not as tall as usual. The extreme heat and lack of rain in S. Ontario has had a negative effect.

Mine are short with no buds! Also my 'campanula pyramidalis' aka steeple bells did not flower at all and this is its final year. Anybody know if biennals will come back for a third year if they fail to flower. They look healthy. I also think the weather played a part in the lack of flowers this year.

Add mine to the "not doing as well" list. I'm finally getting a lot of buds. Quite disappointing compared to last year when they were 4 foot monsters covered in blooms by this time. I started them indoors in March both years.

Sometimes bulbs just give what they can and wear out.
'Course it can depend on how well they are given winter protection and if moisture was prominent over winter which caused mold or mildew to form.

The new method for over-wintering them is completely new to me...as of last year..and I did keep some in the way of enveloping them in plastic, individually wrapped.
The other clumps, I kept the old fashioned way.

I cant say one way or another, which was best. My plants did their same old thing. But then, I have a coldcellar which has been good to me for other bulbs and roots.

My Dahlias didn't fair so great either; it was definitely the lousy growing season we had here in the Chicago area. It would try the patience of Job! Well, save those tubers, thereÂs always next year. Anyone who is a Cub fan understands that notion.

Mine seem to be doing better with the cooler temperatures. I grew mine in pots and they didn't seem to like the baking sun (85-90's).

Yup, as soon as the weather improved towards tolerable, mine started making flowers, not as well as previous years but better. And yes the ones in pots just cooked this summer no matter that I never let them dry out (especially the one in a black pot/never again).
And I did plant one brand new one that is still struggling.

The dahlias that were better established before it was so hot and dry kept on blooming, but it seems that the ones that weren't as well established lanquished until it cooled downn. Now they are all going full speed ahead. It has been a beautiful Sept. as far as dahlias are concerned.

Mine did pretty well. The foliage isn't very special anymore. I watered them just about every day during the summer. I have a few I bought late that are real close to flowering. I checked my dates on last year and I didn't pull them out until 11/12 - I missed the early frosts living in town.