Short answer: SPRING! 

We sell our tubers after we've finished overwintering, dividing, inspecting, and inventorying them, which usually happens in late March or early April.

Some growers pre-sell tubers in the fall or winter, but we don't. Why? Because no matter how careful we are, some tubers don't survive winter storage, and we're not comfortable selling something we can't guarantee will be alive come spring. We'd rather you never get that heartbreaking "sorry, crop failure" email. Been on the receiving end of that one. It's awful.

The best way to know when tubers are available? 

Join our email list (sign up below!). Our email subscribers get to shop a day earlier than the public. Many of our tubers sell out within hours or day, so trust me - you want to be on the email list!

Join our email list! (There's a sign-up form below.) Email subscribers always hear about the sale first, before social media followers. Tubers sell out fast, so being on the list is your best shot.

We ship in the USA (so sorry, Canadian friends — we wish we could!). 

Here's what to know:

We ship in April or May, once overnight temps are safely above freezing.

Shipping is a flat rate for all orders.

Double-check your shipping address before you submit your order! If a package is returned due to an incorrect address, reshipment costs are on you. (Obviously, this has happened a lot… which is why we have a policy now 🙃)

Yes! I get it. 😊 Sometimes you place an order, then realize there were a few more tubers you want!

If your orders are placed within 24 hours of each other, we can combine them for a small handling fee. Any excess shipping costs will be refunded after our shipping season is complete in May.

We feel you. Trust us, we want to get your tubers to you just as badly as you want them! 

But here's the thing: dahlias and freezing temperatures are mortal enemies. If your tubers freeze in transit, they're ruined. We'd rather you get living tubers a little late than dead ones a few days earlier.

Here's how our shipping works: we start shipping as soon as it's safe to do so, and we ship either in the order received or by zone — meaning if it's still too cold to ship north, we'll get orders out to our friends in warmer, southern states first.

What we can't do is guarantee an early ship date for any individual order. We're managing thousands of orders and watching the weather closely every single day. Michigan springs have a mind of their own — some years we're shipping in early April, some years Mother Nature makes us wait until May.

We know waiting is hard when you're excited. Hang tight! Your tubers will get there safely, and that's what matters most.

Yes! We love seeing new and familiar faces! We offer on-farm pickup at Three Acre Farm in Byron Center, MI.

Here's what you need to know: Pickup happens on one designated day, during a specific time window. That's it.

If you don't pick up during your allotted slot, your tubers will be restocked and resold — no refund issued. We know that sounds harsh, but with hundreds of orders to manage, we simply can't make exceptions.

✅Plan ahead, 📆put it on your calendar, ⏰set three alarms if you have to! If something comes up, send a friend, family member, or neighbor in your place.

To combine multiple orders for pickup, fill out our Combined On-Farm Pick-Up form. Pickup dates and times are listed on our website.

We inspect every single tuber 2-3 times before it leaves our farm to make sure there's at least one viable eye. Please note that the eyes might not be visible to you, but they will begin growing in a few weeks.

If something doesn't look right when your order arrives, here's what to do:

Contact us within 7 days of receiving your tubers at lori@threeacrefarm.net with:

• Your order confirmation number

• Clear photos of the tuber (multiple angles help!)

• A brief description of the issue

  After this 7-day period, we do not offer refunds. Once tubers leave our farm, we can't be responsible for loss due to improper storage, weather, growing conditions, or hungry critters.

  By purchasing from us, you're agreeing to this policy.
  

We sell individual tubers, not clumps — and only our best ones. (We keep the "uglies" for ourselves. They grow just as well as the pretty ones!)

Tuber sizes vary a lot depending on the variety. Bigger does NOT mean better. Some varieties naturally produce small tubers, and they'll grow beautifully. We plant anything "pinky-sized" or larger on our farm.

When your tubers arrive:

• Unzip the bag halfway and store them in a cool, dry place until you're ready to plant

• Do not let them freeze — even one night in a cold garage can ruin a tuber (learned that the hard way)

• Tubers are stamped with their variety name, but if the ink is hard to read, check your packing slip or grab a Sharpie

After planting, allow up to 5-6 weeks for sprouting. Some are slow starters and won't pop up until July. Be patient — they're worth it!

You can learn all about growing dahlias in “The Dahlia Quick-Start Handbook”.

We take this seriously. Every tuber we sell is grown and dug up right here on our farm in Byron Center, MI. We don't resell imported tubers or clumps.

To keep our plants as healthy and disease-free as possible, we:

• Inspect every single plant weekly throughout the season.

• Sanitize our snips between every plant when harvesting or dividing.

• Send any suspect plants to Michigan State University and Agdia for lab testing, and immediately remove the plant and surrounding soil if anything looks off. When in doubt, we throw it out.

• Keep our fields closed to the public (no u-picks or harvesting by anyone except us, using our strict sanitation protocol). It's one of the best ways we can protect our crop and yours.

When you buy from us, you're getting tubers we're proud of. That's our promise.

Yes! I highly recommend purchasing a copy of The Dahlia Quick-Start Handbook. I wrote this for beginner dahlia growers and dahlia enthusiasts.
You can find it here: THE DAHLIA QUICK-START HANDBOOK.

You can also check out the blog posts on the Three Acre Farm website.