Sticking to award winners, past and present: I love growing Bloomquist Jean; good tuber maker and consistent so far - plus it's a beautiful orange.
I love the salmon colors, so personal award goes to Labyrinth, which is a perfect blend of pink and orange.
I used to grow Jennie and lost it in a freeze in storage. Sad, that was a great dahlia; good cutter too - though not always the best tuber maker for me.
Parkland Rave is on my list of interests, but I want the more lavender one, not the various pinks shown in a search for images of it.
I was surprised to see Brookside J Cooley consistently on past Fab 50 lists of the past 7 or 8 years That was one of the first dahlias I ever grew and I wasn't much impressed - maybe it was bad stock.
There's a UFO I have been looking for ever since I saw it in a garden over 30 years ago. She thought it was Brookside J Cooley (which is why I bought it in the first place) but it wasn't.) It was a lovely light lemony yellow BB or M cactus with blunted tips - really nice form and color.
A question for the more experienced old timers; since I love old dahlias and want them to not go extinct - how do we find the old award winners - and when did the ADS Fab Fifty first start? thanks.
Also, has anyone had experience with Old House Gardens? [Admin note: Old House Dahlias is a farm that grows their own stock] they grow a lot of older ones but many come from Holland - any thoughts on that? They do guarantee their tubers though. So maybe OK?