Well, Bessie, I hve been out of it now for 4 years but I will think about this, going back. On one hand, my community is one of artists and creative people but mostly it seems like there was nearly always someone who loved what ever I put together with the exception of Yellow. I kept trying but I still could not sell a lovely bouquets of yellows nd whites, yellows and blues, yellows and brights, yellow and anything! I did favor miniature through B sized dahias but occassionally sold a really big one if I had it. Even kowing that it would not last as long, sometimes people wanted it anyhow.Cafe AU Lait was usually so late coming on that market was pretty well over with for the year when it did bloom but there was always someone who loved it. Also, I mixedi n all kinds of annuals or perennnials blooms, and foliage or blooms from my shrubbery. I sldo asked the customer where they planned to display it, and if it was on a dinner table I made sure it was short enough to see over. I included a lot of other flowers in my bouquets too... always something for fragrance and nice complementary colors. So here I am telling you everything except what you asked me, LOL...but that was all part of the "package". The foliages were what what really set everything else off. OK, for dahlias I used a lot of bb sizes with B and Miniatures to make it more interesting. I would grow an assortment of lights, brights and dark complementary colors in B sized blooms, lots and lots of bb sized ones and lots of miniatures for filling in, Choose popular colors but also the ones that help create a mood...small bright reds and oranges, soft pastels, darker dramatic colors. I would skip the fimbriated ones for all but special arrangement bouquets. If you are just making bouquets for yourself, choose the colors you like in your house along with some that are lighter and some that are darker or contrast well with them. Its always good to have an array o f " whites " and 'black"s to accent the other colors. Ball types and FD's last the longest in a bouquet usually. Some of the filler flowers I especially liked were snapdragons, lupines, foxglove, and dianthus. I varied the plants by the season...I noticed there is a 3-5 week rotation on what is avialble in the Pacific Northwest. After that it is all about conditioning your cuts so that they last well once made up.
