To see the full original newsletter with all the photos click here to get the pdf: July 2025 Newsletter
NEXT MEETING
July 8 at 7:30 PM at 9th and Lincoln.
Program: Using your ADS Classification book or your cell phone to identify your dahlias. Also open discussion of July issues in our dahlia gardens and what we are doing to remediate or celebrate. Who will bring tasty yummies for dahlianeer tummies?
DAHLIA POSTAGE STAMPS
Julie represented the Dahlia Society of California at the San Mateo official release of the dahlia stamps. Shot at Swan Island, the photographer preferred closer up macros to actual whole dahlia portraits. Jenna urged us to buy a bunch now because the “forever” cost goes up in July. Julie reports that about 75 people showed up for the official launch. In her role as Kindness Ambassador, Julie shared the 1917 founding of DSC and the 1880’s growing dahlias in the Dell. When asked how many people grew dahlias, she heard but two speak up. Since she invited them all to our big competition/exhibition in August, maybe more people will be inspired to turn their trowel towards dahlias.
YOU COULD CREATE A DAHLIA ARRANGEMENT!
Jenna explained that you do not need to grow your own dahlias to compete in the arrangement categories; you just need to find an obliging source. There are always a few constraints to each topic. Some arrangements must feature TALL items; another category can be no larger than 12” in any direction. Sometimes they must feature certain colors; sometimes they must include a kitchen item, or a piece of clothing or a toy. They ALWAYS have a theme. Jenna showed us the huge ribbon she won for Olympic Torch using shades of orange, red and yellow. Sarah’s rendition of Olympic Rowing still dances in the imagination! So start considering what you could design! Practice with your deadheads and delight your friends.
HEAVY AND SHALLOW
Deborah passed around several containers which surprised some people by how heavy they were for such small little pots. Pin Frogs can be purchased online or at craft stores. One member suggested ezpots.com. Brass or stainless steel resists rust. Medium length prongs are better than bitzy short ones or long fangs that would shred your tender stems. Glue with aquarium cement DAYS! before the show to secure your pin frogs to your holders. If the pin frog gives way and your flower plunges to the table, it often sets off a sickening domino effect and destroys other entries, too. Deborah confessed to an addiction: cruising garage sales and thrift stores. She does not recommend green pots; they often clash with your leaves.
INVITATION TO SISTERHOOD GARDENS
Tim discussed his waterlily breeding project and showed what long stems he’s produced. He invited all our DSC members and their friends and family to an open garden on Saturday, July 12 at 1:00 pm. He’s planted 300 named varieties of dahlias; 700 first year seedlings, and lots and lots of second and third year seedlings that will knock your sox off. So come check out many dahlias the world has never seen before. Google Sisterhood Gardens and it will take you right to the garden gate. Bring some snacks to share or a whole potluck lunch; there are plenty of picnic tables.
TASTY TREATS!
Such yummy oatmeal-raisen cookies from Alex and Alison and from Ken and Kathy. Anita cooked us sausage cheese puffs: good stuff! John and Anette gave us Ritz chips to compliment Jenna’s Ube pretzels. Cara surprised us with bay leaves and oregano to dry and use later on tasty chicken dishes. Thank you all for indulging our hungry dahlianeers! Thanks, too, to Erik, Deborah and Tara for the dahlia plants and tubers. How nice to have such special low price$! Deborah says she still has a lot on her back deck hardening off. If you still need a few more, contact her soon.
TIERS OF BEAUTY
Cascades of fuchsias over 14’ fell in riotous color; luminous roses splashed across the terraces; huge hybisci looked for ears to adorn. Lucy’s hillside under the Sutro Tower erupted in springy daffodils and irises, exploded with fairytale columbines and now is sending up dahlia sprouts for July’s garden action. Wow! Lucy says she likes the year-round color her multi-layered backyard produces. Wow! Stunning!
EDUCATIONAL AND BEAUTIFUL
Brigid Ide planted 4 dahlias at Diane Feinstein Elementary School near her home. “Hoping for big blooms when the the kids return to school in August.” If these thrive, she plans to donate more next year. Great idea, Brigid!
SOGGY BUT SATISFIED
By Mary E Crichton
Each year the Portland Dahlia Society gets together to plant the Dahlia Test Garden. One of eight, this trial garden is in Canby, Oregon, which is just south of Portland, located on the Swan Island Dahlia’s property. Swan Island is not currently located on an island. The purpose of the test garden is to find out how tenderly developed varieties fare in the real world. Hybridizers mail in 3 tubers of each candidate variety. Once they are blooming, judges even go over them and give them scores! I did manage to drop one while planting and I hope the judges will take ‘operator error’ into account when judging that poor, abused start. I expected to go out there and plant tubers but, SURPRISE! they were already growing in pots of various sizes. What a concept!
I’m a relatively new member of the Portland Dahlia Society. They asked for volunteers to help plant the Swan Island Dahlia Test Garden and I volunteered. After the 45-minute drive from Vancouver, Washington, I arrived just after 9:30 am and got right to work with my little shovel, digging holes where the stakes were already pounded into the ground. It was sprinkling a little rain but nothing bad. There were 13 people working on it…the most that had ever shown up! Once the holes were done and I started putting dahlia sprouts in the ground, THEN the skies opened!!
All the other sensible women hustled themselves into the gift shop to get out of the rain. I stuck it out and kept planting. There were almost 40 varieties to get into the ground and three of each variety. The rain continued to pour down. I made several discoveries… my raincoat is no longer waterproof, nor are my rain pants. My Muck shoes kept my feet dry, but my hat just soaked up water like a sponge.
By the time everything was in the ground, I was wetter than an otter in a washing machine. I didn’t have dry stuff to put on and didn’t feel like driving home buck naked, so I cranked up the heat (which had just been set to air conditioning the day before) and took off. Not before one of the organizers dashed up to my van and asked if I would be willing to be added to the list of people who would come out to weed the test garden on Thursdays.
I know I won’t be able to go every Thursday, but I did enjoy the planting and the people, rain and all. I planned to ‘learn’ stuff while I was planting, and I did learn some stuff about planting dahlias. Next time I go, I’ll probably learn weed identification! It really was fun and if I can do it, so can you!
Thank you, Mary Crichton, DSC thanks you for your descriptive account!
MAUS HAUS VISITORS
Francis and Jon brought Alan Haas (North Carolina) to dine at El Jacal cantina and to cruise the Maus Haus decks’ extra dahlias. Allan demonstrated his wee stainless steel rototiller with which he coruscates the baggies he stows his tubers in. This shiny wonder makes just big enough holes to let the tubers breathe whist gestating. Up from Mississippi, Coleen who made the first floral walls at our Show, supped and talked dahlia non-stop for a couple hours. Sooo great.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Judging Seminar
July 26
Corralitos Women’s Club
33 Browns RD Watsonville
DSC Floribunda!
Aug. 16-17
9th and Lincoln San Francisco
Eden Alice and Bumble Rumble Flowers of the Year
Dahlia Dell Open House
Aug 3
Dahlia Dell GG Park
Dahlia Dell Walk ’n Talk
Sept. 13
Dahlia Dell GG Park
Sisterhood Gardens Open House
July 12 1:00 onwards SF
SCDS Show
Aug. 9-10
United Methodist Church
1515 Fredericks St. SLO
20th Ave Memory Raeann’s Wild One
Dine Around
Sept. 7
Monterey Show
Aug. 23-24
Capitola Mall Ty Royal
MBDS Dine Around
Aug. 2
San Leandro Show
Aug. 30-31
Library San Leandro
Hollyhill Day Dream RayeAnn’s Anteres
ADS National Show
Sept. 18-21
Chicago
Portland Show
Oct. 4-5
Oaks Park Dance Pavilion Oregon
DUES DUE!
Have you renewed your DSC membership. Please do! You could miss out on more information about up coming events and gasp! our colorful newsletters. Click here to take you directly to our membership site: https://www.dahliadell.org/store-2
ON THE BRIGHTSIDE WITH DAHLIAS
Tara shares her visit with us:
Down a vineyard-lined lane off Hwy 29 in Napa Valley is On the Brightside Dahlia Farm and its super sunny owner, Jackie Rosenbrand. I was lucky to get an invite to her family vineyard and flower farm in June. An 1880’s farmhouse (in the family for 4 generations) painted dark blue with white trim echoes the cutest little mini home painted the same. In between the two homes are 3/4 of an acre of beautiful dahlias planted right up to the vines. A cute little barn for the Valais Black Nose sheep, Zurich, and Miniature Sicilian donkeys, Coco and Luna, is nearby. Her orange cat, Dexter, prowls the dahlia rows and offers a good contrast to the blooms.
The Rosenbrand’s family immigrated to the US after WWII when a young boy from the Netherlands was impressed with the American troops that liberated his small town. The young Rosenbrand came to pursue the dream in Napa Valley at this farm. First there was a walnut and prune orchard until the 1970’s and then a vineyard of Cabernet Franc until 2020. The soil is rich from deposits of the Napa river which is nearby. On the day I visited some of the plants were already 3 feet high and producing a lot of blooms; others were just beginning to pee,k out. Jackie gets most of her tubers from Swan Island and some from our tuber sale; but even with 3/4 of an acre it’s hard to choose which ones to plant. The farm is called On the Brightside because that is where Jackie had to look after the 2020 Glass fire burned down their home. With kids and animals in tow they moved to the family farm. Jackie discovered dahlias at the hardware store where she bought 4 plants and, well, you dahlia addicts know the rest of the story. Jackie jumped into dahlia farming as therapy. I know many of us can relate to the healing properties of gardening and flowers but wow! she really walked the walk. Jackie credits our California Dahlia Society for giving her the knowledge and inspiration to start on this dahlia growing adventure; she tunes into our Zoom meeting for education and tips.
In addition to raising kids and a full time job, she grows these beauties as a business and has a stand at the St. Helena farmers market on Friday mornings 7:30-Noon. She also shows at our annual August show, so keep an eye out for her.
I can’t wait to get back to see her again. It was the best day of my summer so far!
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onthebrightsideflowerfarm/
SANTA BARBARA HAND OFF
Since Steve needed to pick up his son from a successful first year at UCSB, he asked if he could ferry some dahlias to our long-time members Larry and Ted near Santa Barbara. Deborah rounded up seven fabulous varieties and an arugula to add to their already growing 350. Many unsuspecting drivers pass Larry and Ted’s spread, hit their brakes and back up to take in all the magnificent flowers. Ted and Larry love to take bouquets of A’s and B’s to their daughter’s restaurant and hear the gasps and oohs.
ORCHIDS ARE LOVELY TOO
Jenna is looking for volunteer Dahlia Ambassadors to take shifts at Orchids in the Park.
OITP 2025 will be on July 26-27, 2025 (10am – 5pm Saturday and 10am – 4pm Sunday) at SF County Fair Building (1199 9th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94122)
We have been invited by the SF Orchid Society to have an info table and advertise OUR flower, the official FLOWER of SF, THE DAHLIA! Last year was so much fun, so we hope for some enthusiastic dahlia lovers to share the joy! You get in for free! Parking pass options too. Please email Jenna Kaiser if interested at jennakaiserw@gmail.com
YOU BE THE JUDGE
On Saturday, July 26, Monterey Bay Dahlia Society hosts their Judging School. Who should go? Anyone interested in learning more about their favorite flower! What is the difference between hue, tin, shade, and tone? Why are form and color the two most important aspects of a new seedling? Learn how to objectively evaluate your own dahlias. How important is attending Judging School? We need knowledgable judges sooo badly that the Dahlia Society of California is willing to pay your tuition if you’ll attend! Please contact Julie Efumi : wrenchergirl@gmail.com to make sure you get a lunch. Maybe you can form a carpool?
ALL’S FAIR
Francis, Beverly and several other San Leandro Society growers set up a dahlia booth at the Alemeda Fair this month and seemed to have plenty of early blooms to wow the crowd. Francis and John have been working on a new public dahlia display in Alemeda. They promise to give us the address when it begins blooming.
MILL VALLEY BEAUTIES
Allison K has first blooms amidst the jungle of her husband’s fruit tree forest. Cheyenne and a cool voodoo lily seem to like the penumbra just fine.
LET EVERYBODY KNOW!
Here is our official DSC Show Poster beautifully designed by Jenna and JennT. Please print it out and hang it in your dentist office, your library, your local park, your school, your local garden shop: wherever you think people might be alerted to this wonderful event. Please post on your social media and ask your friends to repost. This is such a gloriously beautiful event, let everyone know. Jenna says the ribbons she ordered are gorgeous!
HOBNOBBING ON THE HILL AND TEAR DROP
WOW! The blooms have started. Sarah’s section is teaming with gorgeous Eden Alice, Sir Richard, Jax, Labyrinth, Sandia Lillian and many others. Displeased with a lagging Daddy’s Girl, Sarah replaced it with a better DG in waiting. That’s what the gallon pots in reserve are for. Tim has planted a whole bunch of seedlings in 4×4” pots. Will that be a crazy panoply of color soon! Tinnee and Gerry finished planting and are glad to see first blooms. They gave their curations a good gulp of Miracle Grow to boost them along. Almost overnight Lou’s crop leapt from 4” to a foot and a half tall. Amazing what these long June days can produce. Last year Heather weeded with her Ziri in a sling; this year she hired a babysitter so she could volunteer. Turns out her son loves yellow arugula blossoms. Sophisticated palate for a two year old. Welcome back, Heather! One of our new interns, Adam, learned how to flake the industrial hose: it was like wrestling an anaconda. Surprise! Well done. Disgusted by the yucky greenish brown scum on the 5-gallon buckets, Steve took several home and scoured them shimmery white again. So thoughtful. Our visitors so enjoy Steve’s dahlia disquisitions: what an ambassador for the Dell! Brigid is the master of cleaning out the lower leaves and all the nasty things that hid under dahlias’ skirts. Nicole is not only our master planter; she is also an excellent field dresser. She dug up several of Deborah’s sophomore clumps, separated them, returned the healthiest to the same spot, and potted up the rest in gallon buckets. Truly our MVP!!! Escaping the Sacratomato heat, Christine came down and trimmed arugula and raved about how great the Hillside looks. Deborah got clearance from her physical therapist to KNEEL. Using a lovely kneel/bench, she finally got her hands in the dirt!
FIRST BLOOMS
Sarah’s second tier on the Hillside has been blooming since the middle of May! Amazing Eden Alices, huge Jax (AA lc r), darling Poodle Skirts (an pr), alluring Blomquist Tassel (BB SC db) and perfect Sir Richards (MBA dp). Check out her luminous KA’s Champagne. Tinnee and Gerry’s Wildwood Marie regally accepts the heat wave and the fog. Lou has a jaunty Bumble Rumble, our Flower of the Year. Deborah’s section had 33 blooming as of June 24. Noteworthy, a huge Pennhill Watermelon (AA sc p/y) and an etherial Kelgai Ann (WL lb). Jessica is particularly sassy with her red fingernails at the end of bright yellow incurved cactus petals. Check out the difference between Jessica and AC Abby (B C r/y). Elvira loves her spot right next to the gate. Anemones galore: Mexico, BJ’s Rival, Boogie Woogie and CPD Shockwave. Come check out the Dell! Which ones can you identify?
JOYOUS JULY
Disbudding and Deadheading
Dahlias often come 3-5 buds to a stem; deadheading reduces this to but a single bloom per stem and leaf pair. This yields the longest and strongest stem and biggest flower. You do NOT have to disbud, but you will be surprised by the difference. Kristine Albrecht has some excellent YouTube videos about this. Deadheading is not rocking out to Jerry Garcia tunes; it is cutting your spent dahlias. When should you decapitate? I like to cut when I see pollen and there are still a few days of beauty and integrity left in the dahlia to display on my table like this Urchin on the right. Snip the bloom below the leaf pair clear down to the next crotch, new growth. Cutting triggers a hormone which signifies that your dahlia has not yet produced seeds and must gear up for production of another flower—exactly what you want! Do not let the petals begin dropping all over the lower leaves. What a mess. They begin to rot, look ugly and attract mold and critters. Ugh.
Roguing
I planted 2 Sandia Lillians. One is utterly splendid; the other produced two crappy 8-12 petal trashy blooms. Grrrr. I will wait through two more blooms. If they stay so substandard, out will come the whole plant. I have lots in gallon pots waiting in the wings just itching for a spot in the ground. So check your plants. Is one looking really cruddy? Wrinkled leaves? Stunted growth? You might give it a spritz of Captain Jack’s Dead Bug to see if the new growth perks up. If not… OUT! OUT! OUT! I have been adding a tablespoon of Bayers 3 in 1 Rose treatment in my late planting holes just to give them a little shield against the army of bugs summer brings. June is still a great time to plant and still have blooms for our August show.
Water
Dahlias like to be very wet and then very dry. Watch them. They will tell you when they need more water. Our Bay Area weather is so variable: fog, drizzle, gusty winds, actual sun, grey drab. It’s hard to put dahlias on a timer because sometimes they need water every other day and sometimes they can go up to 10 days without. I’m using a drip system at the Dell which I manually initiate. Drip systems are good because they deliver water directly where you want it and not where you don’t want it. They drip on the soil, not on top of the plants and especially not on the blossoms. Drip tape, soaker hose and PVC pipe with emitters also supply bottom water. Overhead watering should be avoided. Potted dahlias are another story. Every time you water a potted dahlia, nutrients leak out the drainage holes. Potted dahlias need more fertilizer than in-ground plantings. You can add a few drops of liquid fertilizer to your watering pail each time; or judiciously add some pelleted fertilizer once a month through the beginning of September. Beware: some pots dry out more quickly than others. Get to know your containers. Do not over water your pots; mushy dahlias turn into rotted dahlias. (Pictured above: Rolf, B, SC var r/y; Hollyhill Starburst C db drp/wh/yel; Glenbank Twinkle, M C db.
Vase Life
How long will cut dahlias last? Depends on the dahlia and when you cut it. Ball form, Formal Decoratives and Stellars tend to hold up the longest in a vase. Laciniateds tend to droop the soonest. Immediately after you cut a dahlia in the field, put it in water. IMMEDIATELY! Carry a little jar or bucket around with you if you are cutting for a bouquet. When you get home, cut another 1/4” off the stem and continue this every other day until you compost them. Use really clean vases. I put mine in the dishwasher. Any little bit of dust or microscopic bacterium can clog up the pinocytotic channels in our dahlias’ stems. The cleaner your vase is, the longer your dahlias will stay happy in a container.
Cocktail du Jour
Tinnee has begun giving all her dahlias a big gulp of Miracle Grow. I just sprayed problematic dahlias with their first cocktail of the year. I use an electric 2-gallon sprayer, so pare down the amounts depending on what size spritzer you’re wielding. Captain Jack’s Dead Bug (spinosid). This is a concentrated bacterium which protects leaves from leaf minor and other munchers. I add 1 tablespoon per gallon. It’s not too early to begin mildew prophylaxis. I add 1 tablespoon each of whole milk and baking soda per gallon. The milk helps hold the cocktail on the leaves and the baking soda changes the ph, making the surface of your leaves unappetizing for mildew colonization. This time of year I am adding 1 1/2 tablespoons of Stylet Oil. This both protects from mildew and smothers eggs that might be on your leaves. Lastly I add 2 teaspoons of dishwashing soap (not detergent) per gallon to help it all stick on the plant and not just drip off to the soil beneath. Out of my 220 dahlias, I sprayed approximately 35 plants that needed a little help. Don’t bring cannons to a picnic to wipe out the ants. If you jump on the issue immediately, you need very little to quell the incipient issue. The longer you wait, the more obnoxious the method you need to remedy issues. Be on the look out!!!
Halfway House
As I bring my last dahlias out of the magic germinating loft, my kitty, Tessla, likes to sit in the greenhouse window overlooking the street. This gives the hot house plants a little breeze and exposure to the cooler temperatures whilst still remaining somewhat protected. Tessla loves his sentinel outpost and the dahlias thrive on his carbon dioxide.
Dahlia Joy
Volunteers have already taken home deadheads. I have already astounded with 3 bouquets. Physical Therapy stopped for 5 minutes so everyone could swoon over my early blooms. Have fun sharing the surprise and delight our dazzling dahlias bring to others!
Yours in dirt,
Deborah
Hillside bursting with blooms
Dexter patrols Brightside Farm
Jenn T’s first bloom! Wow!
Abby scores again with Judges’ Choice,
Clearview Jonas, at the Alemeda Fair
Photo credits: Chrichton, Dibner, Dietz, Donahue, Ide, Johnson, Kaiser, Kawaguchi
Punctilious Proofer: Steve
URL Mavin: Mini