Way back when we were discussing Fidalgo varieties, and Ted gave us that wonderful history of the Fidalgo breeders, I got to thinking of a dahlia farm that was near Burlington WA, along highway 20 that grew a lot of Fidalgo varieties. @Teddahlia, could that have been the Matthies' farm? I wonder if you would remember the name of the owner/grower on that farm, if not - it was at least 30 yrs ago. That was the first place I ever bought tubers. We would visit his fields in Sept or Oct. - you just HAD to stop, it was so spectacular and right on the highway! One time in late Sept while they were still digging, I found two extra abandoned mystery tubers on the ground after they dug those rows, and picked them up. That is how I got Holly Huston and Encore. He always took the time to talk with us or walk the fields with us, and he loved his dahlias. I was sorry to see that place go. Later I learned that he had passed; he was a wonderful guy (as was Lou Eckhoff of Seatac dahlias - I remember spending a long time in his seedling rows with him; his pride and joy. I can see why so many of you love the breeding part!)
I grew Fidalgo Knight which was a beauty; also Fidalgo Splash - no two flowers were alike in their distribution of coloration - and I loved the B size flower. I love WhoDunIt too - it's smaller and more uniform, yet still beautiful. I miss Fidalgo Splash, though, and that farm. He also had some Camano varieties. I wish I had kept those ancient order forms from him and from SeaTac now! Fond memories of these two growers I had the pleasure to meet - and his tubers were beautiful; they had some substance; not like those teeny wimpy little singles that people are selling online nowadays for big bucks - I guess in order to cut down on their shipping costs, which has risen so dramatically in recent years.
