There doesn't seem to be much activity here in Dahlialand, so...

Here is a link that might be useful: Colorado Dahlia Society

Crystal,
I'm a newbie to growing Dahlias too, but I've been doing some research over the past couple of months. I attended the Dahlia Society of Georgia's auction in April and picked up some helpful literature. Some of it's on their website too (but it's been down lately) - www.dahliasocietyofgeorgia.com

1. I don't think it's too difficult to grow them. The ones I purchased have been in baggies and the sprouts were growing in there.
2. They said that you can leave them in the ground in Georgia. (Just mulch heavily in the winter)
3. They recommended mixing Black Cow manure in with our clay...and I think they even suggested removing the clay all together. I just added the manure.
They suggest planting in May 1-15, but I waited because of the unusually cool temps we had at that time. Plus, they don't like soggy soil, so I waited until there wasn't much rain.
I still have 3 more to plant...so I don't think it's too late.

Let me know if you have any other questions...I'm at work, so I don't have all of the information that they gave me, and I can't remember everything that they said.