calico20hill I am happy to know I’m not the only one! I am still dividing and my whole focus is just getting through them all. I’m sure it would be a time saver if I was more organized on the front end, but I had to let that go. 
I hope they are all faring well for you.
General Dahlia Chat 2024
MissyWeitzel thank you! How nice that you have been able to “context switch” and get time away from the dahlias. I’m still so new that I haven’t developed that kind of a rhythm yet. It’s a huge priority for this next year, however. Are your do-by dates pretty firm? How long did it take you until you felt like you had a rhythm that worked for you? Honestly, I’m a sucker for a few more blooms or a few more days in the ground and, especially, a few more cuttings. It’s going to be the death of me if I don’t get it dialed in.
Teddahlia I know you’ve said this before, but when do you start planting them out? I hope the time will come where I’m 1) organized enough 2) experienced enough and 3) patient enough to have a plan such as yours. Do you stagger them because of space/time management or for some other reason? I don’t have a ton of seeds but it might make the spring a little less intense.
magucci I'm in Michigan so the climate/weather forces a lot of my schedule as does my unwillingness to wash tubers outside when it is 35 degrees out. I don't have a root cellar or a big walk in cooler and the air is too dry here for even unwashed clumps to sit for long without shriveling. This forces me to start digging in late September and divide as I dig. I work from sun up to sun down digging and dividing until it's finished. I would love to leave the plants in longer but I love not being cold and miserable more. It's a lot of work and really long days but I honestly really love that part of the job. I can usually finish in 6 to 8 weeks. My husband helps a little but he doesn't feel well most days and if I'm being honest, I like things done my own way anyway. I get that all out of the way and do a final inventory and then take a much needed break. The other crazy time of year is spring. I get my orders shipped as early as possible. When temps cooperate, I can get 80% or more of my orders out in March, leaving most of April and May free for tending to seedlings, cuttings, prepping my beds, and of course planting out.
It's easy to become a workaholic doing something you love. I think it will help you to set monthly goals because otherwise some of these tasks can really feel overwhelming. It
is also important to make sure you take some R&R along the way and make time to actually enjoy the flowers when they're here. I have to force myself to do that because otherwise I blink and the season is over!
(Pic of one of my seedlings) 
- Edited
We want to plant 1,000- seedlings(down from 1200 a few years ago) and they need to be the best seedlings. However, giant and large seedlings take longer to sprout and be ready for planting, so they are first. Historically, we have never had as many giant and large seeds (despite trying). So we plant first a batch of giant seeds. Then the very best of the promising seeds are next. Germination rates are all over the map. Some are 90% and some 0%. We need 1,000- plants and losses are about 50-100(poor growth is main reason; one should not plant seedlings that do not grow vigorously). Every year is bit different. Sprouting seeds is a crap shoot and Margaret uses her tried and true method and I supplement hers with paper towel seeds. Cuttings are being taken all through this time too. Busy. Busy. Seedlings in the ground are about May 10th and planted before anything else is planted although in recent years we we cheat a bit on this. Why seedlings first? (1) they are the most important(2) they need more time to make root clumps. People who just plant a few seedlings when they get some extra time are not dahlia breeders.
MissyWeitzel thank you for this. Your seedling is beautiful 
So many blown centers. Can’t the post office get anything right? 
(My dad will be super excited since he collects both stamps and dahlias)
magucci Today, I came across this use of SmartSuite. The video is totally dedicated to building a dahlia personal database. This is a YouTube video, that guides step by step how to use the free software. https://youtu.be/rwkMrpQQhjs?si=4sqmPI0rjocYyVxX
Happy New Year’s Eve!!!!
rivers can’t elope. Love her!!
Juliarugula That's funny! I'm sure the photographer thought the open centers had pretty, curly petals and added interest and texture.
blown_dry this was my guess also! I like to play around with macro shots and pollen and open centers can make for cool macro shots (from a photography point of view). Both with dahlias and other flowers, buttttttt when your using dahlias as a stamp theme it feels like something to beat avoid!
Juliarugula I got curious and looked into the stamp creating process. Artists submit portfolios of their work and a stamp idea. Then usps “stamp designers” can choose pieces of their art to turn into stamps. So I’m guessing the stamp designer thought blown centers = cool wavy movement as another response said . In the press release for this stamp there is a history of dahlias and it talks about the plant origin, hybridizing, popularity, forms but it doesn’t mention it as being a popular show flower, so I’m guessing they were not aware of “show flower beauty standards”.
7 days later
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