Let us know how it goes!
2023 Orders & Openings Chat
I'm not buying as much this year, but found myself swooning over some of the Rivers items. Had to get several that weren't sold out, and kicking myself for missing some beauties. I particularly liked Rivers Little Vickie, but it looks suspiciously like Tahoma Shea, down to the 2 inch bloom size. There were some NICE WB offerings, too.
Rivers Little Vickie
Tahoma Shea
@"blown_dry" I did the same, right at 10 am PST but have already received his response letting me know he’s sold out. I hope you are successful with yours so that we can see your photos this season!
Anyone else fail at Crazy4 this morning? I have some admittedly unfounded /selfish bad feelings about Santa Cruz (KA). She's developed a MASSIVE following on social media but her tubers are impossible to find. A great breeder but underdeveloped business plan? Finally nabbed a cutting of Khaleesi last year only to cull it for virus. Can never click fast enough to get an actual tuber of anything.
Paul said he got 100 emails right at 10 AM and another 30 from 10:01 to 10:05. That's a lot to process. Of the 22 tubers I requested, I'm able to get 11 so I consider that a win. There's always next year.
@"AKWindWatcher" Oh my yes, I don’t envy the work of sellers in the current landscape. Receiving 100 emails in a minute would not make me happy and I feel guilty for my role. There is always next year and truth be told, my limited space is a teensy thankful for the unsuccessful order request.
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I sent mine to Paul at 10:00. It was not soon enough. At least I have the comfort that I have only myself to blame? LOL There's always next year. I put a couple in my cart at Crazy 4 but the Hollyhill sold out during check out so I abandoned ship. I am saving money! I just hope that it's somewhat helpful to sell everything at once and focus on other stuff until shipping time.
blown_dry We should consider doing more of what the Brits do - take cuttings and grow pot tubers (not of the Mary Jane variety...) People in various regions can take cuttings and offer some to growers who live near enough to avoid long shipping times.
CollaretteQueen Well, hold on now. Don't get too crazy. I'm kind of building a business model off of good tubers over here. Lol.
I think CollaretteQueen was just trying to say we need more supply, soonest. Cuttings are faster than tuber production. 
Cosey I've been in a recent conversation that had me thinking about older folks who might not be tech savvy or have the quick enough reflexes to survive the dahlia wars. People will still want tubers, but thinking to help spread the love, provide easier accessibility, and at a fair price for those on a budget or are infirmed.
The Crazy4 sale opened at 5:00am my time...I woke up at 5:12 haha. Had I been up on time, I was only going to go for one of the new Hollyhill waterlilies but I guess it wasn't meant to be this year.
CollaretteQueen That's what I like to do take cuttings off the hard to find tubers. I have built up a lot of BQ Troy P tubers this way lol
I'm rapidly moving to the point where at least 50% of my collection will be rare / very hard to find ones. In order to ensure they survive and that I can spread them to other growers, I do lots of cuttings that I grow over the winter. I'm not interested in selling, I just want to make sure these babies aren't lost to history. The more people growing them, the better chance they have.
I just went on to crazy 4 and looked at the leftovers - which were actually pretty sweet! I got 4 dahlias I never have tried or really seen around much -Felida circus/felida mardy gras/rivers neon Jack/and Amelia Jay.
I just have resigned myself to not getting the new or it dahlias of the year. It is a bit like buying peonies. The new introductions or rare ones are impossible to get and SO expensive but the first couple of rounds get bought by other peony growers/hybridisers and eventually more get on the market at a more reasonable price. I also think more cut flower farms will get on dahlia addict and Instagram and that might relieve the pressure in a few years. Normally that might mean a bubble and then a glut on the market but more and more people are becoming aware of the environmental costs of typical florist stock etc and so I think local flower farms still have lots of unmet market potential.
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I fear the day someone can come up with a dahlia sniper program like the Ebay one I used to use. I had to develop some procedures already for accelerating the process (which I would not reveal to my own mother 
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Darce There's a lot to be said for waiting out the 'new dahlia' storm. There is a good reason why KA's new releases are hard to get years after release... storage issues. I've grown several of hers multiple years in a row, and not only do they not perform well for me in the garden, but I'm lucky to have even one tuber for the next season. Just say'n.
Of course, my dahlia garden in PA is run 'Bond' style... Live and Let Die.
I love what CollaretteQueen said about sharing out special stock to keep it from dying out... Some of us in the Pittsburgh area did that for years with a few tricky varieties, and they wouldn't still be around if we didn't keep on giving tubers out to those of us who lost them. Gwenos, my avatar image, is one of them. Gorgeous, but the tubers are rather thin and it has on/off years in each of our gardens. I've regained it once, and given it multiple times within our local trading group. I rarely have any to sell.
I had gained and lost Wyn's Eeek! several times, keeping it often as a lone pot root. It peetered out, and I really miss its beautifully odd form. Haven't seen it for sale for quite a few years. Bumble Rumble is one that's still available, and I've been able to keep that oddity around recently... I wonder when it might disappear, too.
I only grow KA Rosie Jo and it did ok but the tuber production was pathetic only 1 tuber + the mother tuber. Hard for someone to get enough build up stock in the market place with poor tuber production and storage issues.
They pulled all her 2023 releases because of cutting issues.
