I think dahlias are sadly underused. I mean, what’s a gardener supposed to do, once the showy June perennials are finished, but the oriental and trumpet lilies are not yet going? Sit around admiring the rudbekia and the monarda and other virtuously-applied natives? I don’t think so. Not in my silly city yard. I’d way rather look at a five-foot tall dahlia with blooms as big as a baby’s head in some outrageous color and utterly artificial shape.