Dahlia-Alert News Service

G’Day,

I’m Don McAllister, a member of the Colorado Dahlia Society and this is our Dahlia-Alert news service. During the past six months over 700 new members have joined Dahlia-Alert and the subscriber list now exceeds 2600 dahlia fans. With this many new subscribers I would like to remind you that Dahlia-Alert is an announcement service and NOT an online discussion group. In other words, I am the only person who can post emails to this group and I am also the only person with permission to view or change the email address list.

The main purpose of Dahlia-Alert is to remind you of dahlia events like sales and shows just before they happen. Beyond this we try to share some links to seasonal dahlia growing articles and occasionally I just pop in an item or two that I think many of you might find interesting. That said, if you would be interested in a joining a dahlia discussion group,. you can find brief descriptions and joining instructions for all the known online dahlia information exchange groups at http://www.dahlias.net/dahliagroups.htm.

I also want to let you know that I have now updated the BigList Dahlia Locator file http://www.dahlias.net/dbiglist.htm and the Directory of North American Mail-orderDahlia Suppliers http://www.dahlias.net/supplierlst.htm to carry only 2007 variety availability information. These are the two key files used in helping growers to quickly find sources for dahlias they want and in most cases online purchase information is available for each of the suppliers.

If you’re a guy and you don’t read instructions try going to the BigList page to start checking on dahlia varieties you want. Otherwise, if you want to do it right, there is a seasonal article called ‘Finding Great Dahlias for Your Garden’ at http://www.dahlias.net/seabox/findem.htm.

Please note, I am just starting to update the Calendar of North American Dahlia Society Plant & Tuber Sales http://dahlias.net/tubersalestate.htm with 2007 information. However, updating goes quickly and the first 2007 sales reminder letter will be coming at you in about three weeks.

This year my wife Carroll and I have volunteered to do education at our dahlia society meetings and I will probably share some of the ideas we present on Dahlia-Alert. At our first meeting of 2007 the topic was getting started with seedlings and cuttings. This is a pretty straight forward topic that communicates well in a show and tell, Q & A type of presentation. However, plant lighting, one of the important keys to success in growing good transplants, is a bit on the technical side so we covered it with a handout. If you are interested in this topic I have posted the handout on the Colorado DS website at: http://www.dahlias.net/seabox/lightem.htm. You may be surprised at some of the findings.

BTW – Get ready to Spring Forward on March 11th. This is the ‘new this year’ start date for Daylight Savings Time in the USA. I suppose a lot of other countries area doing this change.

Up With Dahlias!

Don McAllister
Colorado Dahlia Society
http://www.dahlias.net/
Longmont, Colorado
(303) 776-6150
Donmc00@yahoo.com