Annabeth- yes, a seedling is a new variety that we have hybridized. We grew it from seed. The first year I plant the seeds in flats & when they've got 2 sets of leaves I transplant them into deep 3" pots. They grow in our greenhouse until the end of May when Walt plants them out in the seedling garden. We usually have around 750 - we will keep about 150 of them to evaluate the second year. After that we keep evaluating them until they're either 5 years old or we get rid of them if they don't make the grade. In order to get a seedling into the trail gardens it has to be 3 years old-- & some gardens require the seedling to have won at least 1 first on the hort. bench in a show or have scored on the 1-10 in a show. Then it goes to the trials for a summer & then is either introduced or not the 5th year. It's taken a lot of years to figure out what seed parents to use in what combination to get good seedlings. We specialize in the biggies - AA & A sized - but if we get a nice B or BB we're not about to toss it out. We haven't decided if we're going to introduce 0386 (yes, I goofed up on the number- it's 03 not 02) next year or not. We might send it to the trial gardens to see how it does all around the country. It won Best AA in Show at the Fraser Valley Dahlia Show in Canada last weekend- we think it's going to be an AA rather than an A since it seems to want to grow BIG! You're right- there's no AA or A sized FD purple or dark burgandy dahlias- & only a couple of ID ones-- that's why I was so excited when we got some this year. I just tagged some more today-- going to use that combination of parents more for sure! Meanwhile, we have a really nice 8" dark purple seedling that looks like a dark purple Edna C. Walt calls her Primadonna! I was going to post a picture of her for you but Photobucket seems to be having a maintenance problem right now & I can't get in to get the picture. We would ALL like to have a giant with Hillcrest Kismet form-- wouldn't that be wonderful!

While there's clearly a lot of research in your post Jeannie7, the answer you're providing michiman is, well, pure bunk, IMO. That a plant has been grown in a zone does not make it native to that zone...it may make it hardier to that zone, but Dahlias are native to Mexico (zone 11), not the Pacific North West...so pretty much all Dahlias in NA are growing outside their native zone, by 2 or more zones. Weve got posters from zone 4 who have blooms. Dahlias do not produce bulbs, which are stem tubers, they produce root tubers which are significantly different. I seriously doubt that the tubers michiman received from his FIL were "hybridized" for the Pacific North West. Whod want such a plant? Whom would you sell it to, where would you show it? If it wont grow in trial gardens around the country, it cant get its ADS designation (AFAIK.) So unless FIL is genetically engineering some very specific Dahlias, and totally forgot they were hybridized for the PNW and gave them to michiman in order to prove his daughter made a bad choice of husbands (knowing that michiman would never be able to grow them in Michigan) I seriously doubt the tubers are the source of the problem. This is further proven by the fact michimans tubers sprouted, and some flowers do appear. Clearly these are viable tubers IN MICHIGAN. Which part of michimans growth tells you they **cant** grow in Michigan? This isnt to say that the PCN isnt a great place to grow Dahlias, but its not the only place for any varieties Ive ever heard of. Ive got 43 varieties of PCN grown tubers growing here in my zone 5b garden. My point is that this whole zone hardiness bunk is misleading to anyone who might believe you. As long as you can provide a long enough growing season for your Dahlias, whether that is partly inside or not, you can have beautiful blooms practically anywhere. My average from 95 blooming plants right now is ~160 days from the time you take a tuber out of storage to the time it blooms. The quickest was 107 days, the longest 230, so as you can see there can be a huge variation even in the same gardens (as someone else pointed out, there can also be a huge variation in the soil composition/sun/water across a single garden.) Michiman, my best suggestion to you for next year is to take your tubers out of storage any time after mid- January. Stand them up in some soil so the pointy end of the tuber is in the ground, and push them in about half the length of the tuber. You can put them 4"-6" apart. Watch the eyes form (if they hadnt before you divided them) and sprouts form. When the sprout is ~4" long, or has 3 or more sets of leaves, cut it off very close to the tuber. Put that cutting in a 4" pot with Miracle Grow Seed Starter mix. Water thoroughly and keep watered until you see new growth (remember, these arent tubers any more so you cant really hurt them with too much water.) Grow these in your windows, rotating as needed (to keep the stems straight.) In May, when all chances of frost are gone (air frost, now youll be worried about the leaves being frosted so this is a little later than youd worry about frost for tubers,) plant them out in your garden as you would tubers. Leave them in their pots, or take them out...your choice. Leaving them in the pots will make for smaller more compact tuber clumps in the fall and theyll be easier to lift. In all other respects theyll grow identically either way. You should have blooms much earlier this way, regardless the variety. Cheers, Russ

The Best Tasting Fish of the Year by Wayne Leman Humpy soup is sure good, And reds are wonderful smoked. But the best tasting fish of the year Is the first king shared around the town. The winter is long, cold, and dark, We wonder if Spring's gonna come. But we know that it's here When we share around the town, That best tasting fish of the year. Someone would get it, That first king of the year. Then family to family would share. No matter how small The pieces would be, It would be the best fish of the year. We salted our silvers, And dried some dogs, And pickled fish sure tasted good, But nothing could beat That best taste of all, The first king shared around the town. Kings always taste good, Any time of the year, But why, tell me, why, Does it taste best of all, That first one that's shared around the town? 'Cuz it tells us that Spring's here? 'Cuz it's eaten so fresh? Maybe so-- But you know what it could be, Why it tastes best? 'Cuz it's shared all around the town. Copyright 1994

We have 2 or 3 cactus varieties that came from seed packets we got at home depot. Most seed packets you see in seed racks are usually dwarf types and they do well. I have a few beds of dwarfs but they don't give the blooms that the larger varieties do. Local florist like large blooms and they want long stems. We breed some and buy seed to expand our gardens. I was hoping some breeders would connect with me and we could exchange seed or I could buy some. It's not easy to breed dahlias a lot work is involved.