2024 Dahlia Tuber Sale FAQ: Please Read.

We are 10 year dahlia growers and grow roughly 2k plants each year. These are all tubers that we have grown in our commercial flower field in PA for at least one year. I have not purchased any known Dutch stock in 3 years as well. I watch carefully for any signs of disease and discard any suspicious plants, sometimes I will also discard the entire variety if there's any question, and start fresh the following year. We have also done some intermittent testing with Agdia in the last 2 years.

Sale & Site Details:

Our site does not hold tubers or carts - I suggest you get in and get out as fast as you can. We take all major credit cards on our website.

Our site also does not offer a wishlist feature. I plan to have everything loaded in at least a week ahead of the sale and then you will be able to see the varieties offered for sale. Everything will be listed as Out of Stock/Sold Out until the sale is opened. You can add yourself to a ‘waitlist’ and get an email when it is restocked- but that will take a few minutes to send you the email so it might be precious time.

Our site also does not allow us to ‘limit’ purchases- so there are no limits to purchase varieties - however please don’t be greedy and let everyone get a few! As a farmer I often try to buy 5 to start of any variety, but it’s just rude to check out with 25 of a popular variety. Don’t be that person.

If you are unfamiliar with the madness of dahlia sales, going the private newsletter route will hopefully buy you some additional time- but I suggest you get all your auto-filled browser info in order and know which varieties you are going for ahead of time.

NO refunds after sale. If you have regrets post-sale-madness, sorry but we do not refund orders. We are also unable to make ANY order changes after the order is placed - our platform does not allow us to change an email or fix something - I assume it’s a legal requirement to not modify an order - so your only option would be to cancel the order and lose your tubers. Please double check your data entry before purchasing or be prepared to live with it!

Divisions & Tubers:

Typically we divide into small clumps OR sometimes one individual tuber. I tend to leave them in a clump or 2 because that gives the least chance of error or me missing an eye. Yes this means I have less to sell - but you also might get lucky with an extra eye or split. I prefer to err on the side of caution personally. If there is a single tuber - it is because it was very obvious there was an eye or that there was enough crown for an eye. Again I try to err on the side of caution.

We do not wash or grade our tubers. I hate introducing extra water into the mix when tubers are so high in water content already and have seen firsthand how it can ruin a tuber. Feel free to wash or not - up to you. We brush off dried dirt with brushes as best as possible. We plant directly as they arrive to you. We also don't fuss too much with the tubers. There is a huge range of how tubers arrive to us and you can expect the same with your packages. We keep the ‘weirdest’ looking ones for ourselves, BUT if there is an eye and the tuber will grow- especially on unicorn varieties we may not have many of- we would rather sell it knowing it will grow for you than compost it because it ‘looks funny’. I know what will grow after 10 years- and will not send you a blind tuber. We are not hard-core dahlia sellers, this is just us sharing our 'extras' from our field stock so they do not get composted. We do not print/stamp or label each tuber individually-your tubers will come in a baggie per variety, labeled with variety. Plan to make your own tags.

This is not a huge sale. Because we are not hard core dahlia sellers, and mostly grow for cut flowers- we don’t have tons of every variety to offer. I’ve cultivated a selection of popular-to-grow tubers to offer here to you. Some vars may only have a few to list. If you are just starting out, grab a mixed tuber collection! People love them and they are affordable. I understand that some people will be disappointed by smaller quantities of things, my apologies in advance!

I don't have individual pictures of each and every dahlia variety listed. Every year, I beef up my photos of the varieties in the field, but a few may not have images. I usually google to see images of the dahlias I am considering buying because I also want to see the different 'shades' it may take on depending on garden or growing region. This is a great way to see an image of a dahlia if we do not have it on our site.

Dahlia tubers are usually shipped dormant. Sometimes they may already have an eye sprouting, I prefer to ship this way- but sometimes they will not. We just cranked up the heat in our cooler to start waking them up to see eyes better. Familiarize yourself with looking for eyes - here is a wonderful page on eyes/splits by my friend Michael at Summer Dreams Farm on them. As the weather warms up you will see the eyes sprout more clearly. Michael’s Guide: Summer Dreams Splitting

Shipping/Pickup:

Shipping will occur in APRIL. If we get our ducks in order we may start in late March- but April is our planned timeframe. We ship warmest states first & then end with coldest states- it is not in order of order placed. We do not take special requests on shipping WHEN- we will use our best judgement - please do not order if you need special treatment on shipping on a specific timeframe.

Pickups will also be around that timeframe as well, if not a little later. We do not plant our tubers until MID MAY here for locals-you need to wait for the soil to warm.

Be SURE to choose Shipping or Pickup at Checkout. Pickup is only for locals. If you mess up, we will have to cancel your order and have you re-order (but there’s no guarantee on stock) so please double check as you checkout.

There will be two options for shipping- and the site will automatically calculate this for you as you shop. 1-4 tubers is $14 and 5+ tubers is $18. This streamlines the sizes of boxes we will use down to 2 sizes, and affects how quickly we are able to get orders out as a tiny team of 2! We do NOT combine shipping on multiple orders -again we just do not have the bandwidth.

Order Errors/Issues after Arrival:

Once your order is ready for shipping and we are processing it, you will get an email notifying you of this. Please keep a watch on your tracking so your box does not sit outside for days before you find it (speaking as a purchase!). We use USPS for shipping- and once we ship we don’t have any access other than the online tracking system - the same way you do- to track a package. If there are any issues with shipping- you will need to file a claim with USPS- not us.

Once you get your package, OPEN IT UP and inspect things. I say this as a purchaser- because I have waited a week or two out of being busy and then found liquified tubers inside due to it being too warm in our house. This is your responsibility- not ours- you must open things up and let them breathe. We do not refund for ill-treatment after receipt, please respect this.

We offer a 72 hour inspection period after arrival of your package based on USPS tracking delivery- if you do not email us about an issue in that timeframe, we will not be able to assist you. In the event of an issue, we can offer a replacement if available OR a substitute if available OR a refund.

Note that the tubers MAY be dormant, and eyes not popping yet. We will only ship tubers we KNOW have one or more eyes- we have years of trust with our customers and this is important to us.

In the case of an incorrectly labeled tuber - we understand you will not see until bloom time later in season. If there is an issue with your variety-it happens - we are only human- we ask that you come to us first vs blasting it on the internet. We of course want to make things right within our means & can offer a tuber of the correct variety the following year to you as available or refund you if not available.

Planting and Instructions:

Do not plant your tubers until your ground is warm. We send 2 pages of instructions on growing your dahlias so please read them carefully after arrival. We will not answer individual questions on how to grow dahlias, the answer is 99% of the time listed in the instructions. We also do not answer individual growing situation questions. Please do your own research.

Thank you! Hopefully we have covered the basics here. I would like to keep this sale as drama free as possible and get you some new varieties!