You let them dry too much :-) They can't be allowed to dry out and tubers that are allowed to dry to look like "raisins" are much too dry to remain viable. IMO, these are some of the easiest of the summer flowering, tender bulbs to store. You can let them go through a light frost to kill back the tops or cut them back to about 4" when the foliage starts to go over at the end of season. Dig them out carefully and wash the soil off. Let them air dry a bit to remove excess water then wrap them individually in newspaper or store in a cardboard box filled with slightly moistened sawdust or peat moss. Keep each tuber from touching its neighbor - this can create rot. Store in a cool, dry place over winter. Check periodically to make sure the tubers are not too dry and spritz with water lightly if necessary. And make sure there is some air available - don't store in a plastic bag, etc. If you grow them in containers, you can follow the first part of these instructions but rather than digging, allow them to remain in the container over winter under similar conditions. Let the container soil dry out naturally to a barely moist state and make sure it stays just barely moist and doesn't dry completely. If they are stored too warm, the plants will want to begin to grow again so keep at temps right around 40F, not much more. I wait until spring planting time to divide. The 'eyes' or growth buds are more visible then and each division must have at least one of these eyes.

Bad experiences can be caused by misguided expectations, a one-time fluke or a spell of personal problems from the vendor that they may not want to share with customers. Bad experiences can also be the product of constant bad service and products, but it is hard to tell the difference. I had a sales rep that cost me a thousand dollars of potential revenue in my business by not following up on a project adequately, despite many urgent calls from me. Found out later that his mother was on her death bed, and he was at her side while still 'working.' Should I have warned folks away from that business if he hadn't felt comfortable sharing that painful truth? Should a dahlia vendor explain their personal life to every $20-40 customer? Bad experiences happen to everyone, but that shouldn't keep you from reaching out and trying new vendors despite mixed reviews. One vendor was ripped apart in reviews for 'sounding mean,' but in my experience she was a no-nonsense lady that was a wealth of information and very kind. Throw out the reviews and dive in.

Our member PlantLady2008, with her hubby, own's Wynne's Dahlias. I haven't bought from her myself, but others here have and I have already placed an order myself for next year. All of my Dahlias come from Swan Island Dahlias. They've been great to me and their tubers have been great too. I had one that didn't sprout this year and they quickly promised to give me 2 extra (plus the one that didn't sprout) on my next year's order (I didn't want them to send me them back in the spring this year.) Lots of choices, and they've all grown pretty much to their specifications (except that Raspberry Punch is listed as a Stellar but is, in fact, a FD...;-]) I know others here by elsewhere, so hopefully you'll get a number of well recommended choices. Cheers, Russ

Wynne's Dahlias-- they're great!! Wonderful people who introduce dahlias. They grow about 7,000 plants & bring out new ones every year. You can get to their albums by clicking on View our Picture Gallery - or get the price list or order form by clicking on either of them. They don't have their '09 list up yet but you can get an idea of what they sell by visiting the albums & the price list. Ellie Here is a link that might be useful: Picture Albums, etc.