I AM A TINY GROWER!!

I am a small, tiny, minuscule grower! I cannot stress this enough! I mostly grow ONE plant of each variety. Or very, very rarely I will grow two plants of one variety. As such, the amount of tubers available from a particular variety may be as low as ONE or TWO tubers only. I have chosen to make these available to the public so that I can help offset my hobby costs and so that others can benefit from the varieties that I bring into my garden. But please, prepare to be disappointed if you are after all of the "unicorns." If you are not ok with that, please don't buy from me. 

 

All of the tubers listed here were grown by me on our small property. I do not sell imports. 

 

Shipping

I know shipping is expensive...tell me about it. I'm sorry I can't make it cheaper, but I simply can't. I will use flat-rate boxes from Canada Post or courier using UPS or Purolator. But the cost is always around $25 no matter what. I pay the same as you do when I order from other growers. It's just part of the deal.

That said, I WILL combine shipping. Make sure you pay for shipping with your first order, and then choose local pick up for any subsequent orders. Please email me afterward with your order numbers so that I can keep track and make sure I get everything packed together.

 

No Bells and Whistles

Note that I'm a small hobby grower, as mentioned previously. I don't provide fancy packaging with glossy care cards and all the other beauties that larger growers / businesses provide. I love those, but I simply don't have time or inclination to do that. However, my prices are also a bit lower than others for this reason.

No bells and whistles here - just viable tubers that will arrive in good condition and produce beautiful blooms!

 

Upon Receiving

Inspect your tubers right away! If anything is off, let me know within 48 hours and I will do my best to make it right. 

 

Gall

Ah yes, the dreaded gall! Presenting as either crown or leafy gall, this one gives me the heebee-geebees. I can guarantee that I pull and properly dispose of any plant I find with gall symptoms. I would never send a tuber that looked suspicious and rest assured that none of the plants I retain showed any signs of this. If your tuber looks suspicious upon arrival, let me know. I will not refund if your plant shows gall at some point during the growing season, as there is every likelihood that this came from growing conditions or contamination in your garden at that point, and not from mine.

 

Viruses

Viruses, on the other hand, I will not guarantee against. There are many estimates floating around (including from the American Dahlia Society), stating it is likely that 80-90% of dahlia stock out there has some sort of virus. Many of these will lie dormant for a time before showing themselves due to stress or some other trigger. I am diligent with sanitizing between plants, both when cutting flowers and when dividing tubers. I will never knowingly pass along a tuber from a plant that showed virus, as I pull out anything suspicious. However, I am a small, hobby grower and I cannot afford to test all my plants. Therefore, I cannot and will not guarantee that your plant will not show signs of virus in your garden. Trust me, I know how frustrating it is to pull out that variety you've been waiting and waiting for. But some things are just beyond our control.

 

Tuber Appearance

A tuber requires an eye, crown, intact neck, and body in order to grow. I see a lot of complaints among the dahlia groups that a tuber is not "pretty." Don't get me wrong - it's lovely to get a tuber that is straight, perfectly plump, amazing eye, smooth skin... But it's also important to recognize that these fancy potatoes are planted in the ground and, whether ugly or pretty, they produce a perfectly beautiful plant and flowers. 

Therefore, I am choosing to make both my "ugly" tubers, as well as my "pretty" tubers, available to you. I will not charge less for these, as I honestly think that's ridiculous and I wish other growers wouldn't do that, either. These may be twisty, they may have flaking skin, they may have lenticels, they may have the slightest shrivel or wrinkling (NOT desiccated or squishy), they may be weird balls or long honkers. But they will all grow a perfect plant.

If you will be upset by an "ugly" tuber, don't order from me. Quite frankly, I'd rather get an ugly tuber of the variety I've been hankering for than not receive one at all.