I was also concerned about my large decorative type dahlias budding and blooming, but this morning I noticed buds and blooms on a white one, that I have in a pot. Not very a very large bloom, but plenty of buds and one bloom opened. Guess the tubers did not have much depth in the large five gallon pot. It is the only one that is blooming, but the others are in part shade, and this one is in full sun. Also, for about two weeks, we had a drought here, and then when it rained, heaven opened, it poured down rain, and our car got flooded, stopped, and had to be pushed to dry ground, about five feet away, to dry out, before it would restart, near the Atlantic coast in Charleston, SC, bringing my brother home from the hospital, after surgery, last Saturday afternoon, so it received plenty of water, even though we live 50 miles inland from Charleston. It was so hot and humid that it rained at home for about five days last week, and I did not have to water it. I guess the others will follow it in bloom, now that one has led the way.

Hope that yours will start blooming soon.

Anne

I also purchased dalhia bulbs on ebay, mine came from an indivudual seller. Like yours they have yet to bloom. I have cared for them just like all the other dahlia I have. The dalhias from HD and Costco are doing great with lots of blooms. It is quite disappointing to spent the all the time and effort to get these results. This will be the last purchase on ebay for plant material I will make.

I'm still trying to figure out dahlias. I'm in the Sierra foothills and it's frequently 100+ and very dry during the summer. In shade they have a few blooms so I planted in sun this year--even fewer blooms that just started in August. Perhaps I don't have them deep enough for the heat, perhaps they need morning sun and afternoon shade (which I don't really have), perhaps I'm feeding them incorrectly or not watering them enough. I see a few people successfully growing dahlias here but I don't know their secrets. My dahlias come from a variety of sources, though e-bay is not one of them.