mail order ...

but you will have to come up with the name of what you want... including the latin parts.. if you really want specific plants...

a start is at the link

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

I simply went to Wallymart, & found some $1 pkt 'Arctic Fire' (deltoides?) , 2 for 1 sale..& used to have 'Fire Witch' that I simply adored, but found a pkt. of some called 'Brilliancy' or something to that effect, which seems to be on the rather short side. Allwood's x alpinus may be a good choice, if you can locate it.
I think it is better to grow these by seeds & that way, they aren't growing potted, in peat moss, & then planted in normal soilless mix, in a larger pot , or transplanted into the ground, in the typical usual dirt...as they seem to prefer rather poor soils any way & even to begin with, using sterile mix with perlite, can easily succumb to overwatering or too much rainfall.

For me both Brilliancy and Allwoods are all taller than dahlia's six inches. Firewitch is that height, but seeds of D. gratianopolous (which I think is what Firewitch is) are probably available like the others. Having a latin name of a kind you want is good thing. The cultivar name like Firewitch or Bath's pink or Tiny Rubies is good too. I think Arctic Fire is D. deltoides, which, looking it up, is also short. So those kinds of seeds would also be good to look for.

Thank you for the quick responses. I plant in scree plus some homemade potting mix. The severe weather caused the problem here in Maryland I suspect. I will look into all suggestions.