I don't plant all of the same color together but I do try to plant complimentary colors together. I have to sit down and figure out where I am going to plant them all, as I have a lot more than I did last year. I did go thur my list and mark off the ones that are 3 1/2 feet or shorter and will put them in another garden where they won't be overshadowed by the taller ones. I will hopefully be planting them in a couple of weeks. Most of mine are already growing in pots and the hot weather last week really helped them grow a lot! Linda

"I felt overwhelmed as the light was fading, and my hands and feet were freezing..." And that is exactly why I don't wait for a killing frost every year; I don't want to be its next victim! I have 250 plants this year, 98% of the tubers will go in Saran wrap. I'm wondering right about now about the wisdom of expanding next year as well, but I know I will. Because I'm trapped in the wild web spun by the delectible dahlia! Like any large task, I divide it up into sessions and stop before it becomes a hateful chore. This year I made the fantastic discovery of Muck Shoes for washing clumps in cold weather- They are so cushy and warm my feet never get cold. They're waterproof. Two thumbs up. (Two cold thumbs up because I still can't find anything equally warm that doesn't get soggy for my hands that still allows the fine hand movements needed to divide easily.) Space heater blaring by the garage work bench helps a bit. Linnea, I think you'll find that tuber harvests vary from year to year even on the same variety. Some years are good, some are average or poor. Don't give up on a variety based on one year's results unless you really want to. This year I'm surprised at what I'm digging up: some pleasant surprises, some not.

Hi Poochella! As the say seeing is believing! I hope my photos will be as impressive when I get around to posting? I wrote the below and was ready to paste before I saw your 2nd reply with photos. Jim Hi jroot and Poochella and of course All! Thanks for your replies. I sort of thought someone would think I was not serious about the 8' tall Dahlia plants because Ive never seen them before either. But it is the truth as Poochella said. I candidly thought I was doing something wrong. But I will say this; my wife thinks their beautiful and likes looking out the window at them, plus my next door neighbor told my daughter when she sits on her patio she feels like shes at a park. Im so happy we missed the frost of Sat morning 9/30, here in the Syracuse NY area as I have a brother from Binghamton NY, actually Conklin which is 90 miles S of Syracuse who will be visiting this coming weekend. He too has never seen 8'ers. Amazingly with a 1½ degree southerly latitude difference between his home and ours, his area is classified as Zone 4a/b where ours is Zone 5a. So that could possibly be a great deal to cause the tallness factor. Longer warmth and as much as a 2 to 3 week more of growing season can make a big difference Im sure. I gave him a tuber this Spring but his never materialized to that height. I just went out to measure what I think is the tallest and it does measure just shy of 8', and Im sure with the temps in the low 50's to middle and upper 70's on a couple of days this week they'll reach beyond that height. I will get a couple of photos, hopefully today. Another thing I would like to point out is without trying to embellish is, first, jroot like you this is a favorite Forum. The learning content is great and the photos are exhilarating, and Im envious of the photography. To be so gifted. Second, as to the tall growth. I learned after the fact that its not so good to fertilize or should I say over fertilize. I'm sure it came via this Forum. Well, for the past two years Ive taken fresh horse manure, mixed it in a 5-gal pail until it was broken down and then added more until I had the pail almost full of manure. I then put this in my six cu ft construction wheel barrel and added collected rainwater. I fill the barrel at least twice and get possibly as much as 50 gals of liquid that I strain back into 5 gal pails. I also add five tablespoons of Miracle Grow to each pail. (Talk about over fertilization!) Then with a watering can I pour at the base of each plant and generally have enough left over and pour over the plant itself. I did this three times during the growing season. One thing Ive recently noticed as I pass a few properties where Dahlias are visibly growing, is the leaf structure from the stem base ½ way up on many or most plants have already turned brown and crumbly dead looking. I have very little to no brown on my leaf structure. The same areas of growing but why the difference? Is it the soil PH or the rich mixture? I have not a phantom of an idea. And 3rdly I have to add I enjoy reading the posts from this Forums Group. As much as I hate the thought of being just a few weeks away from Winter where our average snowfall is over 100", I cant wait to get caught up on the Groups Tips and Success after blowing out the driveway. Believe me, Id rather be Gardening, and the Gardening Forum is the closest I can get :>) Jim

Bob_13, Pop over to the Dahlia forum and the experts will graciously help you out.