i grew my dahlias from bulbs/tubers. i planted them in … early june i think? so depending on your last frost date you may still gave time to grow from tubers – you can usually see on the packet or on the website how many days they need to reach maturity so subtract that number of days from your last frost date to see if there’s enough time.
i think growing from seeds will take a lot longer – likely too late for this year unless you have a grow tent or a greenhouse.
Google tells me my first frost date is October 13. I think I have a packet of dahlia seeds, I should look…
these are so pretty 
Is there anything to be done for floppy stems? It’s only a problem with some plants. I did not feed the plants as they were growing, maybe that would help?
I think it can have to do with when they are picked for some varieties. Zinnias do it if they are picked too early. I’m not sure about others.
there’s a test you can do for zinnias – grab them 6 or more inches down the stem from the bloom and jiggle it. if the bloom feels floppy, it’s not ready. if it doesn’t flop around, it’s ready to pick.
with other flowers, there are different signs to look for. i think floret has tips on when to pick all flowers on their site.
i was gone for 9 days and even tho my bestie watered and took flowers several times, the BOUNTY when i came home was MAGNIFICENT. my half-assed garden is making some whole-ass flowers!
this is 2 shots each of 2 bouquets, a small one and a big one 
Glorious!
So pretty!
these made me smile! what are the teensy ones in the last pic? they are so sweet.
Aster. Apparently they come in other colors too, because when I looked up the name to verify the name the gardener (husband, lol) told me, the image was of violet colored flowers!
oh! maybe they arent as teensy as i thought! i love them – they’re like little stars.
I have purple asters, they’re beautiful. But I love your white ones too!
They are currently measuring about an inch and a half in diameter. They are pretty small!
adding asters to my list of flowers that i need to grow like 12 square feet of someday.
