Dahlias: Looking forward to spring - Part I

I've done threads on phony colors shown on stock photos of lilies. Here are a few. They do what it takes to sell plants.

Many of the dahlias on web sites like Breck's and KVB look like air-brushed photos or paintings. There's no real gloss or shine to the picture. Very phony looking.

I started with 650 but a lot died of rain and *ugh* grubs. A lot of those were replacements for loss planted in pots.

Sheesh Pirl, a lot of those photos make the plant look less desirable than reality. I just think that it's 'cheating' when companies do that and I'm in no way suggesting that some of our favorite dahlia websites are doing that. I just like to get a second opinion when color really matters.

It isn't our 'favorites' that are doing it. It is just that occasionally we are looking for a specific plant and one of the 'others' pops up having it. Or something like that. I think that most of us stay with the tried and true vendors we trust.

Yeah I hear you. It's just all the novice/beginner gardeners that I feel bad for. Oh well, I was there before too I guess.

My point was that I'd never have bought those lilies if the colors were correctly portrayed...and (like everyone else) I also paid for shipping and that makes it even more annoying.

I do try to investigate every dahlia now and stopped buying lilies.

I got about 15 lilies this past fall and I hope they are going to be true to color. I guess we'll see.

I think a lot of sites use color enhanced photos, because the color doesn't always come across as vibrant in the photos, as they are in real life. I have that issue with certain colors. I am not sure that it is meant to misrepresent the color in all cases, but I do understand the frustration of not getting what you expect, from the pictures. Have you contacted the vendor with those concerns? If a bloom is truly the wrong color I would file a complaint and ask for a replacement or a refund. Most reputable vendors will try to work to give you some satisfaction.

Good question. I only have done that when it is obviously the wrong plant. When it is just a matter of a slight color difference, I don't bother. Oh, and I received a plant that was obviously the correct plant by color but the form was way off. I contacted the vendor and they said "Oh the first few blooms look like that but later it will bloom correctly." We are talking the difference between a fully decorative form and one of those that looks like a daisy with five petals. If the tuber makes it to spring, and blooms again it should be interesting.

Thanks, Nanny. I did complain and got a full refund on Trebbiano (the supposed "light green" lily) and for the others I simply don't buy from the company anymore. All of the lilies I ordered from the Lily Nook in Canada, were true to description and true to color.

I considered the colors to be so far off from the truth that I felt "phony" was the only description that fit.

Waiting until the next bloom or blooms, seldom works for me. I am not young enough to think I have another 20 years to wait for the right form, color, etc.

Happy 2015 to all and may it be a very healthy one for all.

Well, it is alllllmmmooost 2015, so figured a fresh new thread was in order.

Here tis

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1383748/