Tasmania, an island off the Southern coast of mainland Australia, with
a population of half a million is mountainous with mining and farming as
the biggest industries. Rainfall varies from 200" on the West coast to
20" on the East coast, temperature is cooler than on the mainland.

The two cities, Launceston in the North, and Hobart in the South, each
have horticultural societies that possess a dahlia branch, and there are
two purely dahlia bodies .

Tasmania has some good growers such as George Harding with his Formby
series (Supreme, Alpine, Perfection, Monarch), Charlie Smith has the Devon series (Blaze, Wildfire, Seduction, Carnival), John Young the Kiara varieties. Mersey Charm one of the most famous varieties from Tasmania was raised by Perc Hicks some 40 years ago.