I've got the same problem on 3 potted dahlias but have knocked them off using Safer Soap solution on two of them. I kept mine isolated from other plants. The third plant is still infested, so I'm going to have to hit that with a stronger stream of hose water.

The good news is they are usually easy to get rid of and have never killed a plant here, but I've only had them on full grown stems before. Usually a brisk squirt of water will get them off. Hope you get your bugs under control and your dahlias are unharmed.

thanks poochella...think i have too many dahlias...too congested with poor air circulation. the growth is dense so i don't think i'm knocking them all off either.

I had to take the hose with fingers over end to make a sharp squirt of water to the one stubborn plant with aphids remaining today. They are small, look like a new hatch, but they are hopefully sprayed to smithereens now. I supported the stems with my free hand and just 'blasted' away from all angles, including nearly upside down. I wonder if the tightly knit new leaves provide little hiding places for them.

i'll try that this weekend. i bought a bunch of ladybugs two days ago and released them in the greenhouse....i was so excited, thought they'd go through there eating aphids like pacmans...but i don't see a difference. and i watch aphids walking on a plant pot...a ladybug literally bumps into it....backs off as if to say EXCUSE ME and walks on. now i'm wondering if ladybugs really do eat aphids???