Late on responding to this: I, too, have been searching for sources of tree dahlia (and other species dahlia) seeds and plants. Annie's Annuals, Far Reaches Farm, and Vintage Green Farms have all had tree and species dahlias at times, but supplies always seem limited. For me (South Georgia and North Florida, where most hybrid dahlias are treated as annuals, so I don't bother with them): D. coccinea (not a tree species) does well, flowering mid-summer on, and reliably returning after winter die-back. D. imperialis usually blooms starting in early November, and several varieties (single and double) have held up through the years. We had a rare frost-free winter in-town this year (this is supposed to be zone 8B!), and the imperialis are still blooming. Last year, I also trialed D. campanulata and D. tenuicaulis. Unfortunately, it was an unusually rainy year - ~20" above the average of ~59", and on a very frequent basis - and a lot tuberous plants that typically do fine struggled with the constant rain. The D. campanulata died back in late summer and I have little hope of it's return (it had also been damaged by a Rosjanthe superba that toppled over in the wind, but also perished, likely due to the combination of that damage and the heat and humidity). The D. tenuicaulis was a well-developed specimen from Far Reaches Farms I planted out in the spring. It held on through the summer and started flowering earlier than the imperialis - October, maybe even earlier? - but then it, too, may have succumbed (I haven't poked around to see if the tuber is still there, afraid that I might find it gone). I would very much like to try D. excelsa, which is supposed to handle heat and flower earlier than campanulata or tenuicaulis and seems to be in cultivation (in Australia at least). And, of course, the 30 or so other wild species, but I really have very little hope on finding any of those for sale domestically. _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…