First, I would suggest typing up a list of your available varieties, as well as the names/colors/forms of varieties you are looking for. If you have images, that's a bonus.

Second, there are three places to post on this site for trades/exchanges. You might want to post at all three, as that would give you the largest potential responses.

The Plant Exchange
The Garden Exchange
Dahlia Forum (here)

You can put your list here or the other recent post similar to this... folks can contact you via the mailbox here (access can be confusing to this mailbox), or you can add your direct email (always put a space between, for spam protection, ie, <sample @ aol dot com>). Depending on the offerings, you can choose to do equal trades (1 tuber = 1 tuber) or value trades (1-$12 tuber = 2-$6 tubers) using a site like www.dahliaaddict.com for price comparisons. Or you can trade extra dahlia tubers for other plants... just watch out, as only too often, off-season trades (like dahlia tubers for iris divisions) are forgotten about, and you can be left with a bad taste in your mouth and the dahlia shipping fee with no irises 3 months later to show for it.

You might want to agree on both mailing in a 2-day priority box ($14 medium square box recommended) so it's the same dollar amount spent. You can use newspaper to pack the tubers in the box, rumpling up
handfuls loosely into the corners where the boxes tend to be squashed in
transit. I would suggest sharing tracking info from USPS as soon as boxes are shipped, and always mail on Mon/Tues so boxes don't sit over the weekend at post offices or in trucks. Always check your weather and recipient's weather to make sure temps won't go under 30 degrees for the next few days.

My personal rule of thumb when trading: Always give more then expected, but always expect to receive less then agreed upon. After all, the tubers received are at the cost of postage, so why not plan on rejoicing at the new varieties, regardless of quantity/quality? This philosophy goes far in keeping trading enjoyable for everyone.

Hope these personal guidelines I use helps you in successful and stress-free trading. It can be a lot of fun, and you can find that you need to put in a few new dahlia beds for all the traded tubers! Been there, done that... LOVE IT!

Hi Cici Vacation,

That was an amazingly helpful post. You've obviously been there and done that. I especially like your advice to give more than expected. I just want to send the tubers to happy homes and get some new ones for my garden in return. I'll start with a quick post here while I whittle down my wanted list to under a million-ha ha.

Nancynot fancy

I've got a list together of what I hope to have to swap/trade with pictures etc. And a very long list of over 100 dahlias I'd like to try (alphabetized at least). So you can see I'm not fussy. Anyone interested can email me at messner _ n @ yahoo.com and remove the spaces. In the past I've donated my extras to a local garden club but last year they cancelled the event due to a forecast of rain and I was left with 100 tubers to plant that I wasn't expecting. Got it done but if I have to dig all those holes I'd like to have more variety. Thanks.

Nancynotfancy

Oh, come on, Nancy... you're being a tease... ;-) Could you share here with those of us gluttons that already have more then enough that can't resist peeking in someone else's shopping cart?

You never know, you might entice a reluctant grower to trade for the first time with a pretty picture...

"a very long list of over 100 dahlias I'd like to try"

Hey, I resemble that comment! LOL! I try around 80-110 new varieties every year, but that dratted wish list doesn't seem to be getting shorter. Ah, the life of a dahlia addict. Love it.

Hi again Cici You'll laugh because I planned to figure out how/where to post the lists tomorrow. Many of the tubers on my Want list were chosen from your catalogue! The idea of having 89-100 new varieties to try every year sounds wonderful until I think of the work that goes into that endeavor. If you want to email me I'll get it off tonight. Thanks.

Great! Can't wait to get your list. Gorgeous picture!

I've posted my Trade List and Wish List as an Ideabook. Hope this makes it easier to see what I have. Or email me at messner _ n @yahoo.com with the spaces removed. I've arranged trades for half of what I had available already.