Welcome to our enchanting world of blooms, where the vibrant colors and beauty of nature come alive. Are you familiar with dahlias? They have become my absolute favorite flower! Not much makes me happier than a stroll through my rows of dahlias with a cup of coffee in the morning or a glass of wine at sunset. But, I didn’t discover them until just a couple years ago. Here are a few things I have found about them that might interest you.

You won’t likely find dahlias in your local grocery flower section. They are, what I refer to as, a “specialty” flower. They require more work than say a carnation, daisy or even a rose. In our climate they need to be dug up, and divided, in the late fall, and stored in cool darkness until spring. Also, the blooms only last 5-10 days in a vase, not quite as long as some flowers…. But, they are spectacular! 

Dahlias come in a wide range of sizes, from small Pom-Pom to large dinner plate dahlias.

There are around 60,000 registered cultivars of dahlia.

If you plant a dahlia tuber, it will be a clone of its parent and bloom true to the plant it came from. However, if you plant a dahlias seed, you will get an entirely unique boom! Dahlias have multiple sets of chromosomes. So, when pollen is carried to a plant from another dahlia, those chromosomes combine to make a unique flower. Pretty much like children are all different! It’s a lot of fun to plant collected seeds and grow your own, amazingly distinct dahlia!

Dahlias are commonly used in wedding bouquets.  Not only do they have such a wide array of colors and forms, but they symbolize commitment, everlasting union, inner strength, creativity and elegance. 

Dahlias are edible! They were originally classified as a vegetable! Their tubers are said to taste like a cross between a potato and a radish. I meant to keep my feeder tubers to try some, but forgot. Hopefully next year I can remember and let you know. All my stored tubers could be a benefit if we have an apocalypse! 😂

A dahlia’s peak blooming time starts later than a lot of flowers in this area. August is when they begin rolling out blooms and in September they peak, blooming right up until we get a frost! 

Dahlias are the official flower of Mexico, where they originated, and also San Francisco and Seattle. 

Dahlias are scent-less. Clients that pick them up always put them to their nose and are surprised to find no fragrance. They rely on their amazing spectrum of colors, and sizes, to dazzle you. And, those colors certainly dazzle the bees! They are very attractive to pollinators. I’ve seen many, many pollen-drunk, sleeping bees, on my flowers. I was also delighted to find two monarch butterflies stopping by for a fill-up on their way back to Mexico this past fall. 

We grew approximately 60 dahlia plants in 2023. For 2024 we will have over 100 plants and 75 varieties. We can’t wait to share their beauty with you this summer!

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