here are 3 of the dahlias grown from
seed that @turtlegirl sent me 
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I have very similar red and purple ones from the Floret shooting stars seeds. If the peachy one is sunny reggae mine have not done well but I love it. I have one plant growing but there are no buds yet.
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the red one is like 4-5 feet tall! when i saw it was red at first i was bummed, but it has a really interesting rust/terracotta undertone and i’m not mad at it!
the lavender one is getting big and strong, too. at first the stems were kinda wimpy and weak but they are getting beefy, and i hope that means they will last a little longer in the vase.
my sunny reggaes are doing really great! i have been cutting them deep to encourage them to grow taller and it seems to be working. the stems are getting a lot thicker as i cut them more deeply. i will definitely save the tubers for these and find a spot for them next year!
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My lavender one is more of a hot pink and is like 7’ tall. 
I wasn’t sure I would enjoy the surprise colors of seeds but I really do.
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Dahlia question for you dahlia people: I have a couple of plants I purchased from the farmers’ market. They were labeled as “dahlias grown from seed.” I put them in the ground and they have been growing, but not flowering. I’m understanding that they may not flower this year. Do I still need to dig up the tubers this year? Is that like an every year thing with dahlias?
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I think it is an every year thing particularly if you get cold weather. We leave ours in the ground and layer mulch on to help keep them warm but lost some last year due to a cold snap. We live in Portland, Oregon for reference.
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yes, what suit said. if you get very cold weather, the tubers can die.
that being said, i live in pittsburgh zone 6b where it gets quite cold, and i have had some tubers survive when i thought i had dug up the whole tuber, but i left some inadvertently.
i will probably leave a few in the soil this year just because my overwintered tubers had blooms in june whereas the other ones didn’t bloom until late july. so it’s worth a little gambling for me.
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Thank you both! I am also in the PDX area. I only have two plants so I’ll probably just dig them up to be safe.
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i’m leaving my zinnias on the plant for longer this year and it’s so fun to see how they mature. they seem to get thicker too.
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this is one of my favorite things 
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I love the sleepy bees!!! I honestly just learned about it this year in my own garden.
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I have never noticed it either, and I have been gardening forever. Apparently I just don’t go out at the right time. I thought it was sweet.
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That second one is tucked right in! 
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Oh! I just found this thread. I saw these cool flowers today. No additional info. I have no idea what they are.
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Mexican petunias!
They grow back from just the smallest runners in the ground, I’m currently starting to remove them from my yard as they’re not native and invasive to my area. It’s too bad, they really are pretty and low maintenance.
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I’ve spent the past 10 days doing garden club and plant Society stuff, including National Garden Club symposiums studying Tagestes (Marigolds) and Capitulums (Zinnias, cosmos, dahlia, etc.) on the show table.
Can’t say this will make me a better grower of these annuals, but I saw some pretty flowers!
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