Not a "Ruby Red" rose

My neighbour has great success in growing Dahlias such as this one apparently with very little attention. They just seemed to appear at the appropriate time of the year namely now.
I have taken bulbs from her garden and despite the fact that my home is situated across the road, they fail to reveal themselves in all their glory such as this photo shows.
I've given up and replaced them with everlasting "weeds". So much easier to grow and guess what , they don't need watering.