Those are mostly the seedlings that are held up that way - although we do have a couple of sections of named AA & A varieties in the big garden tied that way so it works for all. The seedlings are planted closer together than the show garden dahlias. If a plant decides to fall over then Walt will tie the twines together on either side of the plant & that holds it up. They don't seem to mind the narrowness at all- as they grow Walt makes sure the laterals are all inside the 2 rows of twine. The twines are about 6" apart & everything just kind of gets tucked in nicely. He adds another row of twine as the plants grow until there's 5 rows (or is it 6?? can't remember) of twine about 4.5-5' high total. By the time the plants are mature you can hardly see the twine for the plants. Be sure to get Christmas Tree twine- it doesn't stretch & get loose like baling twine or string does & can be reused for quite a few years if taken down carefully, rolled in a ball (or many balls in our case!) & stored.

So the Dahlias have no twine tied to their stalks but rather in effect what Walt is doing is creating a little "Christmas tree twine" cage for the plants if they need a little extra support, correct?

Now I love the idea that I can lose some of those steaks this year for my dinnerplates. I can never get them (the stakes) deep enough into the ground so that they aren't sticking up like goofy tall pencils over my beautiful blossoms! Thank you Plantlady.

Right- no twine on the stalks. The sheer bulk of the plants will hold them up unless you get really bad winds- & then nothing is going to help. Only a very few ever need to be tied on either side of the plant- I think the threat of being pulled out by the roots & fed to the cows helps make them stand up nice & straight, too >:)