This might be too much, or might give you a starting point for your questions. If nothing else, use the Contact button at the MDS site and see if they can hook you up with a mentor to give you more info, or maybe even find a dahlia fiend in your area where you could get hands-on demonstrations and timing tips. Dahlia Societies are wonderful resources I think go largely untapped by the public.

Good luck on your possible venture into showing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Timing Blooms by MN Dahlia Society

Thanks. I actually already had read that article. I went to a dahlia show last year in MN and the guy that wrote it won just about all the categories!! So, i'm going to try and piece together his advice; but the article reads a bit random. Anyone on here have good advice on this topic?