If it’s a trendy tuber you desire, prepare for the Dahlia Wars

It’s dahlia tuber buying season, and depending on your interest in dahlias on a scale from “Eh” to “My 401K is in dahlias,” you either have a list of dahlias you want or you don’t understand the hype.

Years ago, the main sources for dahlia tubers were large mail order sellers, but as the showy flowers became more popular, more small growers started selling tubers and more people got into breeding dahlias. This has led to more exciting varieties than ever and more ability for gardeners to get their hands on rare dahlias that were once available only to those on the “inside” of the dahlia world through trade and private sales.

Small growers, many of whom grow dahlias on a property not much bigger than some gardeners’ back yard, typically offer a limited supply of tubers. These are often run by one person who does all the work of growing dahlias — digging, dividing and storing tubers — hundreds of times over on their own.

This is my way of softening the blow about the cost of some of these dahlias, which is now in the $40-and-up range for rare, in-demand varieties.

The popularity of certain dahlias seems to follow trends. At one point, the blush pink Café au Lait was so popular it had people clamoring for it with desperation approaching the Cabbage Patch Kids craze of the 1980s. These days, it’s still beloved, but you can buy it anywhere.

Two years ago, I noticed collarette dahlias — simple, smaller flowered types with single petals and a fluffy collar — and anemone types being favorites. This year waterlily forms are all the rage. In both cases, my interest in those forms was piqued about a year before most people’s (I’m either prescient or fortunate) so I picked up some good ones before the price skyrocketed.

If you want to grab some of these trendy tubers, you’ll need to arm yourself with a good internet connection, an alarm and a credit card, because you will be participating in what has become known as the “Dahlia Wars,” in which dahlia-obsessed gardeners rush to the small dahlia grower websites to pick up tubers right when they open. Many varieties sell out in minutes.

You thought getting tickets to a Taylor Swift concert was hard? Try getting a Rhubarb and Custard dahlia.

But you don’t have to skip growing dahlias just because you aren’t interested in spending your kids’ inheritance on tubers. All dahlias are gorgeous, even the $5 ones available at the garden center or from larger sellers online, and when you look at your garden in full late-summer splendor, you won’t think that it would have looked prettier if you had spent another $30 on a tuber.

And if you just want some dahlias to cut for bouquets, then seeds may be the way to go. Dahlias won’t come true from seed, but you can grow amazing flowers from them. Seed vendors usually sell mixes so you have a rough idea of what to expect, but every first flower is a surprise. And if you love one in particular, it will form tubers that you can save so you have a clone in future years.

And who knows, you might end up producing the next hottest dahlia.