HAPPINESS GUARANTEE: We appreciate your support and want you to be happy with your purchase. We guarantee your dahlia tubers will be true to photo and arrive in the mail with at least one visible eye. Please inspect your tubers upon arrival and contact us at RiverMerleFarm@gmail.com within 1 week of your order arriving if you have any concerns. If for some reason you are not satisfied we will work with you to make it right. Please understand we cannot be responsible for damage due to pests, bad weather, poor growing conditions, negligence, or plant performance. All dahlia tubers sold by us were grown on our farm. 

DAHLIA TUBER SHIPPING: We only ship within the USA and all orders will be shipped using USPS priority mail. Tubers will ship between late March and mid April once freezing temperatures are clear of the forecast. The cost of shipping is outlined below. 

1-3 tubers: $11.00

4-20 tubers: $17.00

21+ tubers: $23.00

CART: An item placed in your cart does not mean that item is reserved. Your order is only confirmed once you checkout and receive an order confirmation number and email. Please be aware that if you are trying to purchase many different varieties some may sell out before you are able to checkout. We understand how frustrating and disappointing this can be, we've been in the fight for dahlias for years now. Please remember we are just two farmers who have a little dahlia farm and running a small business. We wish we had thousands of each variety to offer. 

LIMITS PER HOUSEHOLD: We are limiting the purchase of some of the very highly sought after varieties in order to help spread the love and share the beauty with more people. Limits are listed in the product title and description. You will see an error message in your cart if you try to check out with more than the indicated limit.

COMBINING ORDERS:  Due to logistics and the number of orders we are expecting we are not able to guarantee combining orders or shipping refunds this year. 

PAYMENT: We accept most major credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Shop Pay. Keep in mind, if you are shopping on opening day and you are rushing to checkout quickly if you select Shop Pay, you will receive an SMS code to finish checkout. If you have delays or problems receiving SMS messages, this may not be the best option for you to select. In the past, we had some customers say how much they loved the Shop Pay option and it helped them checkout quickly but we also had customers say they experienced difficulty because they had to wait for the SMS message. We share this to help you think through what option will be best for you.

Another tip is to simply have your card and personal information saved on your device as that can be helpful for autofill when checking out quickly.

WHAT IF: If something unexpected occurs with storage and we are unable to ship some or all of your order we will refund you for the tubers that we are unable to ship. We have yet to run into a situation where we needed to do this in our three years of shipping tubers.

DAHLIA VIRUS: In 2023, we had the exciting opportunity to participate in the American Dahlia Society (ADS) Clean Stock Offense Virus Testing Program for the first time, and we are thrilled to share that the majority of our tested samples yielded extremely promising results. Remarkably, 100% of the samples we submitted were free from three tested RNA viruses (INSV, TSWV, TSV), and 90% were clear of DNA viruses (DMV/DCMV). All of our submitted samples were RM cultivars, including first, second, and third-year seedlings.

These results are particularly encouraging, especially when compared to research conducted by Washington State University as part of the ADS Clean Stock Offensive in 2022, which found that 87% of 1,334 submitted samples tested positive for one or more viruses. We take pride in our 2023 results and remain committed to expanding our knowledge and efforts in producing virus-free stock. Looking ahead to 2024, we have tested 32 RM cultivars so far, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year seedlings, for DMV/DCMV, INSV, TSV, and TSWV, and we are pleased to report that all 32 samples returned negative results, confirming they are free from the most common dahlia viruses.

However, it is important to note that we cannot guarantee every plant is completely virus-free, as many plants can harbor one or more viruses without displaying symptoms. Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to test every plant in our field. To mitigate this risk, we diligently cull suspicious plants and adhere to strict sanitary practices, including sanitizing our tools between plants during harvesting, plant take-down, and tuber division. We will continue to engage in virus testing and working to create more virus free dahlias.

Since we began growing dahlias, we have taken the issue of dahlia viruses seriously. Our understanding of these viruses was a key factor in our decision to start growing dahlias from seed in 2020, as seeds do not carry viruses from the parent plant. When you purchase dahlias from us, you are supporting a dedicated team of two who are passionately working towards cultivating healthy dahlias, ensuring that we can all enjoy thriving gardens and an abundance of beautiful blooms to share.

To learn more about dahlia viruses and the latest research, we encourage you to visit the American Dahlia Society virus documentation webpage.