You made me laugh, Gloria. And I agree with your last sentence.
That was the other thing about dahlias, they had to be dug during fall and stored in a basket in the cellar. Guess whose job that was? I didn't enjoy that very much either. On the other hand the one that I had in my garden here lasted a few years before it disappeared -- left inground, of course. We've had such ugly weather, I don't blame it much for not showing up again. I haven't decided whether or not I'll ever replace it. Seems that the older I get, the less I want to drive stakes into the ground and I sure don't want to dig anything up in the fall.