Rarities - ISO and Sources
Has anyone seen Elizabeth Mellinger around lately? I’d love to find it again.
- Edited
I was wondering if anyone has seen any of the Athalie’s recently? I’m specifically looking for Athalie and Majestic Athalie because I think I found Lavender Athalie.
and possibly to the source.MissyWeitzel Pleasant Valley Glads and Dahlias has Rejman's Polish Kid on their list. :-)
LoveLanguageDahlias I actually just ordered it from Old House. Thank you!
Rejman's Polish Kid: we almost sold it as for the first time as it made extra tubers. I am going to gift a couple to the person who gave it to me several years go. It is the best bicolor as is proven by it's long term show record. It is not a real vigorous plant but grows OK. Smallish tubers and not a lot of them usually. 
MIDahlias
Why do dahlia societies choose fairly obscure cultivars for their Show Flower? The recent trend has been to select a dahlia FORM, rather than a specific named cultivar, to facilitate ease of entry. For example, my local society has designated any BB, FD or ID, as its Show flower this season....there are countless possibilities to enter.
BarryO I don't know. Southeastern Michigan Dahlia Society, had a ballot box at their show for the public to decide. Their 2025 flower of the year is Ketchup & Mustard. It will be easy for the society to offer enough of this cultivar to everyone who would like it.
For the larger shows, it would be nice if they could announce the President's choice, Flower of the year at least one year before the show.
Challenge classes are usually sponsored by a society or an individual, so that is a little harder to request in advance. I think one can get a good idea of what the challenge classes might be based on the year prior show booklet. For example, Michigan Dahlia Society always sponsors the Midwest origination challenge section for the Midwest show.
It is a bit depressing but when a breeder dies, there are quite often classes set up for his(her) flowers. I would like to see a challenge class for "old time" best in show winners. Older the better. Some of those "oldies" were spectacular and when this is done, stock is rounded up and multiplied making it easier for the variety to survive possible extinction. For example, I believe that was done some years ago and Jennie was located and multiplied and the show was successful and it is much easier to find because of that. Jessica would be good candidate. 
Kitsap County Dahlia Society often chooses a fairly new variety for their show flower. Fortunately we have an amazingly generous club member who grows dozens and dozens of cuttings and gives them away to members so we have lots of flowers for our shows. KCDS does choose their show flower 2 years in advance also, so that allows more time to build up stock and get it out to people.
Teddahlia there is a really great exhibitor team in the midwest who regularly show Jessica. I'm somewhat ashamed to admit it looks like a dahlia I'd be terrible at growing so I never paid much attention to it.
Does anyone here have an extra tuber or two of Taratahi Glo? Willing to trade anything I have or $$.
Sour grapes: we grew Taratahi Glo years go and it did not do well and made almost no tubers for us and no flowers of great beauty either. It does look great in a picture and I did see a nice one at a show years ago. It is an example of a show flower that takes lots of extra care to produce a nice flower. I bet you still want to try it.
I might as well put out my ISO as well. I am hoping to find Wyn's Honey Spice or Wyn's Sleepyhead. That should round out my big big blooms. Have Desert Sunrise if anyone wants that one in trade. And lots of other trades.
Wyn's Honey Spice or Wyn's Sleepyhead:
It was one of he worst dahlia events of all time when the Wynn's house burnt up killing Mr. Wynn and destroying nearly all of their dahlia tubers. https://www.dahlia.org/uploads/InMemoriam/Mem-Wynne.pdf
Many of the varieties were lost and it is difficult to find many of them.
