Welcome to growing dahlias -you will enjoy lots of blooms this summer. The first tip is to bait for slugs and snails as these critters love the tender new dahlia growth that first comes up. Next give these heat lovers plenty of sun. Do not let them sit in drainage water and make sure the pots have good drainage holes and potting soil. Next feed the dahlias now with Osmcote Plus applied on top of the soil and worked into the top one inch as explained on the label. This is a slow release plant food and dahlias need fertilizer all summer to keep in bloom. Once you get flowers be sure to deadhead or snip off the faded blooms and the stems but leave the foliage. Removing old flowers keeps the new blooms coming. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti