Dahlia supplier opinions?

Hi all,

I'm thinking of increasing my dahlia count next year and am looking for suppliers with a good reputation for quality, accuracy, and customer service, who preferebly do not substitute unless requested, have a good selection, and have online ordering capability. U.S. firms are fine, although I would prefer to give my business to a solid Canadian company.

Two that I have been considering are Ferncliff Gardens in Mission BC and Swan Island Dahlias in Oregon. Has anyone had personal experience with either of these firms? Do you have any other suggestions?

Thanks!

--Ginny

Doesn't anyone in Canada but me grow dahlias?

Let me check with one of my gardening pals on our Calgary Hort Society gardening forum and get back to you Ginny. She's a rabid Dahlia grower here in Calgary ...might take a day or two to hear from her though...


Joanne :)

Ginny, I would probably order from Ferncliff. I neve have, but have emailed them and they have a good rating. They sent me a catalogue. I usually just buy a few box store pkgs in the spring. If I can find Park Princess I'm happy. Maybe it's time I got a few nice big tubers somewhere too. Won't order them from Botanus again, but there is a whole list of Canadian places to order from in the Watchdog. I have ordered from Halifax seeds too, and like them, but only seeds and supplies from there.

Abloom Gardens Roberts Creek, British Columbia
(Canada)

(Score: 0/100)
Art's Nursery Surrey, British Columbia
(Canada)

(Score: 100/100)
Botanus Inc. Langley, British Columbia
(Canada)

(Score: 100/100)
Burt's Greenhouses Odessa, Ontario
(Canada)

Canadahalia Gardens Hamilton, Ontario
(Canada)

Dahlias Galore Sechelt, British Columbia
(Canada)

(Score: 100/100)
E & S Dahlias Berwick, Nova Scotia
(Canada)

(Score: 100/100)
Ferncliff Gardens Mission, British Columbia
(Canada)

(Score: 100/100)
Halifax Seed Halifax, Nova Scotia
(Canada)

Hilcrest Flowers Campbellcroft, Ontario
(Canada)

Island Dahlias Comox, British Columbia
(Canada)

(Score: 100/100)
Leonard W. Butt Huttonville, Ontario
(Canada)

Stowood Creek Gardens Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia
(Canada)

Turtle Island Plants Qualicum Beach, British Columbia
(Canada)


http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/advanced.php?state=xx&country=CA&category=8&search_text=&sorter=company_name&submit=Search

Thanks Joanne. I appreciate it. It would be nice to find a variety of reputable places to try, rather than putting all my eggs in one basket so to speak.

I used to just pick packages of tubers up at the box store too Brenda. Then I ordered some from Gardenimport a couple of years ago and was so impressed with them that I'll always try to get these better quality tubers now. Unfortunately they have a fairly small selection at Gardenimport. Thank you very much for the list of suppliers to check out.

I had a mixed experience with Botanus this year. I'm not sure whether I'll order from them again or not. Customer service was great, there were mixed results with flowering - but that could have just been the weird growing season this year as lots of folks had big disappointments. I really don't like substitutes with no prior communication. It's nice that they substituted items that were more expensive than what I had ordered, but they didn't think about what colours I had ordered and that maybe I had a reason for ordering those specific colours. In one case I ordered a red blend and ended up with purple and white. I did find a spot where it fit in very nicely, but not where I had wanted to put it. I know that most places do substitutions and no matter where I order from I'll have to just deal with it - but I don't have to like it :-)

So far I'm leaning toward trying Ferncliff Gardens as you suggest. They seem to have an excellent reputation in both Canada and the U.S. for both quality and customer service, and the selection is great.

--Ginny

I am checking some of these places out. Abloom Gardens is very intriguing. Over 400 varieties and only sells Dahlias. What do you think of the prices?

I will have to perfect my storage techniques if I am going to invest too much in Dahlias.

This was my first time growing Dahlias from tubers this year. I bought quite a few from Costco, cheap cheap cheap. Those didn't do well for me because I didn't get them in the ground soon enough, but some of those same tubers that I gave to my Mom did great. And I also picked up a couple tubers from a local greenhouse. Has definitely whetted my appetite to try more, but I'm with you Echoes; I've got to see how the tubers store for me over the winter before I branch into ordering any....and my Dahlia-buddy is going to share some tubers with me in the spring so I really shouldn't need to buy any more for a while.

Joanne

I've tried quite a few places over the years, and find I keep going back to Ferncliff - good selection, and even the smaller tubers perform very well. I try other vendors now and again, in my desire for something new and wierder, but haven't had much luck with others.

My one order from Art's Nursery - not ONE tuber grew!

Botanus - half grew, and they were pretty pitiful - great customer service.

Vesey's - not good, less than 50% grew.

Colwood Dahlias - same experience as Ginny with Botanus - I ordered pinks and purples, he substituted yellows and oranges! About half grew, and those not so well.

E&S - great tubers, but it appears they no longer have a website.

So my wholehearted recommendation would be Ferncliff.

Hi guys,
Ferncliff was the supplier also recommended by my dahlia-buddy! She also mentioned that she gets great deals at Rona, when they've got them in.

Joanne

Sorry about the slow response everyone. We've been in the middle of a huge winter storm and our internet was out more often than it was up.

Abloom Gardens prices look to be competitive with most other places, neither too high nor too low. I hesitate with them though just because there is not a single rating out there for them and no one seems to know anything about them.

It looks as though Ferncliff is most peoples' first choice, so that's who I'll try first this time.

I know what you all mean about winter storage techniques needing perfecting. I've always had mixed results, but I think that it's partly because I didn't do it right and partly because they've either been kept too warm, too cold, or have been somewhere where the temperatures swing dramatically. This year I have them stored in paper lunch bags in vermiculite in my new little seed refrigerator. I hope I have better luck that way. We'll see.

I do love dahlias though. If I have bad luck again this year I might just treat them as annuals and buy new each year.

--Ginny

I have bought from Dahlias Galore. I picked out in person in Sept. and they mailed in April. They were nice big roots, no substitutes and prices were fair.
They don't have a color catalogue, but here is a picture I took.

Lynn

Ooh, that makes me wish for summer - just got back from walking the dogs in the pouring rain!

You are lucky. The dog and I got rain, sleet and snow all in the space of 3/4 of an hour while we were out for our walk. And it was so sloppy I got wet feet. Ug I think I'll stay inside curled up in my comfy chair with my garden catalogues.

Lynn

HI Dahlia growers. My sister (the one with the sunny garden) has some great dahlias from Ferncliff. She has ordered from them for years. Their web site was recently improved a lot and she gets a regular print catalog from them too. They have consistently sent large, healthy plants. This one is over 5 feet tall.

a5footsea, what's the name of that beauty?

Does anyone have a website for Dahlias Galore, I keep getting "this page cannot be displayed" messages when I try the links for it.

No, I can't find an active site for Dahlias Galore either. I've even tried a Google search and going at it from links on other pages. Thanks anyway Lynn, but I won't order over the phone or through the mail if they have no presence at all on the web.

I believe Ferncliff is the best option, judging by the positive comments I'm getting here :-)

Hi 2zeus,

the dahlia is Elsie Houston (not sure of spelling). The colour in our acidic North Van soil is more mauve than my camera captured, but it is very true to the colour on the Ferncliff web site.

It is a stunner in person.

Well...I finally decided which Dahlias I'd like to try, and placed my orders.

From Ferncliff Gardens:

º Miss Polar (bedding)
º Fr. Louis Mayer (bedding)
º Hy Clown (small)
º Just Peachy (small)
º Penhill Dark Monarch (giant)
º Ben Houston (giant)
º Moonfire (novelty)
º Ferncliff Fuego (medium)
º Hamari Accord (medium)
º Aztec Gold (large)

From Gardenimport:

º Willie Willie
º Bodacious
º Ginger Snap
º Poppers
º Honka

I'll probably hate myself come fall when it's time to dig all these lovelies up again, but right now I feel pretty pleased with myself :-)

--Ginny

LOL ginnylynn. I actually forbid myself by buying any more dahlias until I build the new dahlia bed. 9 dahlias later...... Me, consider yourself scolded. Has anyone ordered from Abloom Gardens (drooooooool) Perhaps I should buy a tuber or two just to test our their reliability for the good of all LOL? Oh also I noted that nobody mentioned Lindenberg Seeds Limited. Not much for pics or descriptions in their catalogue but a good supplier.

a5footsea, I felt compelled to order Elsie Huston from Ferncliff, after viewing that picture!

Oops - I forgot one. Bishop of Llandaff has also been ordered :-)

Oh Ginny, you can not! Just think of the pink beauty you'd be missing...

But, but, but...she doesn't go with anything else I have!!!! LOL Like that's ever stopped me before. But I really, really have to stop this time, so don't be egging me on like that :-) Of course, next year is a whole new ball game, isn't it?

You can put her on your must-have list for next year. That's what I do, when I reach critical mass in terms of ordering more plants than I have room for, or finding one that is gorgeous, but would clash horribly with every other plant......the mythical garden of next year!

I had decided, when I discovered my dahlia tubers all moldy, that I was not growing any this summer, and that was that.

So I only have 18 on order.

HOW does that happen?

Welllllllll, if I take your words verrry literally, you're not going to be growing dahlia tubers precisely, I'm sure you're aiming to grow dahlia flowers. See how much difference semantics can make :-)

Now ya made me look. GardenImport has Helen Richmond and BOL in the catalogue that came today, and since I need some other things from there, like a few lilies and such, I may as well throw in a few of the dahlias too?

They do make wonderful cut flowers, eh? Not to mention blooms when a lot of other things have finished for the season.

I'll tell my DH that he just needs to try describing them differently, when he's watching all the dahlia tubers arriving daily, with one eyebrow raised to his hairline...(amazing how much some people can convey with one eyebrow. I try that in front of the mirror, and instead of appearing wise and discerning and sophisticated, I just look like I have a pain.)

Welcome to Dahlias Anonymous Brenda :-)

LOL! My DH tells me I have "that eybrow thing you do" down to a science. You're right - it can convey an entire lifetimes worth of whatever emotion you would like it to.

uh oh. Are there rules? Do I actually have to have ROOM for all the dahlias I order? I thought that was just a scarey rumour going around.

No, no, you can't do it by how much room you have, or you wouldn't get anything. Last year, I'd filled half my dahlia bed with daylilies, so was wandering around stuffing dahlia tubers in odd places - made for some interesting effects when they bloomed.

I got the names mixed up on two, though, and planted what I thought was a nice pink and purple combo - it was screaming orange and purple, and it clashed horribly, and because of that, they grew and bloomed with great vigor!

LOL 2 zeus. You need a sign "Sunglasses are mandatory at this garden viewing" :)

I got a lot of comments along the lines of: "That's an, um, interesting combination of colours..."

My one friend asked, bluntly, "Did you mean to do that?" Gave me a giggling fit.