To see the full original newsletter with all the photos click here to get the pdf: June 2025 Newsletter
NEXT MEETING:
June 10 at 7:30 at 9th and Lincoln in the Hall of Flowers.
Program: Our Kindness Ambassador Julie will show us how she represented DSC at the inauguration of the Dahlia Postage Stamp. Erik will talk about disbudding and pinching out. What are your favorite dahlia products this time of year? Please bring to show people. Please bring your last dahlias and tubers for sale for our benevolent DSC. Do remember to keep a few as “insurance” were untoward disaster to inadvertently destroy some of yours; keep a few dahlias perking along in gallon buckets. Who will delight us with wonderful taste temptations?
DAHLIA 101
Mini lept into the tech breach while Sarah played bassoon elsewhere and captured Deborah’s Dahlia 101 talk on Zoom. With lovely photos, Deborah walked us through the official 21 forms (plus micros) and 15 colors of our favorite dahlias. Deborah differentiated the different needs of cuttings, tubers and potted plants. We all growled at gopher problems and hissed at earwig depredation. Deborah admitted that she still had “too many” dahlias hardening off on her deck and invited those who missed the sale to come shop her Maus Haus.
GONZO TUBER AND PLANTS FOR $ALE
Eileen astounded us with another humongous box full of baggied tubers with photos. Wow! Such interesting varieties! Erik brought in a couple flats left over from our Tuber Sale. Deborah hauled over 32 4×4’s of her latest hardened off beauties. So many choices at such agreeable price$! Congratulations to Patricia who won the not-so-silent auction for the gorgeous Porcelain.
AMAZING ARRAY OF DELICACIES!
So many yummy cookies: Swedish from Erik, fish from Jenna, homemade peanut butter from Alex and Allison, oatmeals from Leni and chocolate chip from Lola. MMMM. How wonderful to have strawberries from Steve and cherries from Patricia. And what a show stopper: Jarrod baked individual rhubarb pies. Wow. Thank you all for your delicious contribution to our dahlia community. Mmmmm.
DSC TUBER AND PLANT $PECTACULAR
Our greenhouse crew—Lou, Tinnee, Gerry, Pat and Karen—had been toiling since January. Boiler breaking necessitated moving to another greenhouse and cold weather thwarted tuber germination. Nevertheless, our truck brigade transported almost 1000 rooted cuttings and all their remaining tubers to the auditorium. Their green parade bore flat after flat of young dahlia plants. Unable to help Saturday, Tara hefted in her many rooted plants and several baggies of bone meal. Meanwhile, Brigid and Gene transported 8 boxes of cuttings from Deborah’s Maus Haus. Steve trucked in 2 flats of Deborah’s plants he had been fostering on his tiny deck since Deborah was running out of hardening-off space. Jenna generaled roustabouts like record-setting dead-weight lifter Ted who twirled tables up by merely flexing his pinkies (slight exaggeration but not by much). In walked a lovely stranger with hundreds of tubers individually sealed in sandwich baggies containing colored photos of each variety: she immediately caused a sensation. New member, Eileen, could not attend our Saturday sale but wanted to contribute. Wow! What a contribution! Growing mostly in northern Marin, Eileen stayed to help Sarah, Jarrod and the Cutting Crew arrange the plants by size and alphabetize them.
Bright and early Saturday morning, Cynthia, our security guard, efficiently kept traffic moving, those dropping off tubers and those people parking elsewhere. The Soderstroms, up from SLO, efficiently built signs for the tables. As more tubers arrived, more members labeled boxes, sorted and arranged by variety. Ale again brought in sandwich baggies of labeled tubers. So inviting. Tubers and plants continued to arrive and get sorted out. Steve set up his T-shirt booth; Jenna set up Erik’s educational triptych. Debbie set up her membership table that attracted 17 new DCSers and several renewers. She had a great poster of up-coming events to further entice the public. Julia’s seed packets encouraged many to join up. Tinnee matched up photos to trays of cuttings. By 9:00 all was in place and the members who had been helping since 7 AM were able to SHOP! Our Flowers of the Year, Eden Alice and Bumble Rumble, sold out almost immediately. (We hope to see many entrants at our August Show!) Great to see Marilyn and Phil who had donated all 120 clumps from their garden. To florally spruce up our green auditorium, Kauna donated three vases of stunning ranunculus. What a difference blooming somethings added! Whilst we shopped, Erik roused the huge eager-to-buy crowd. He explained that dinner plate dahlias produce far fewer blooms than most of the other types. Erik enticed them with ADS Classification Books for sale, Tara’s Bone Meal, the cultivation handout sheets and tree dahlias. Charlie, whetted by Sarah’s snail mail, was first in line. He told his waiting neighbors about the excellent newsletters filled with helpful growing tips. Thank you, Charlie, for leading the parade and touting our Society. And then the doors opened! Whoosh! What a rush! Joe and Jenn patiently processed the long snake of gardeners paying electronically. Paula and Deborah handled the ca$h tran$action$. What great counters we had—especially when it was better explained what differentiated a $12 A, AA, or B from the rest. Nicole writes of her first Tuber Sale experience, “ I spent most of the morning totaling up buyers in the checkout line. It was fun to wish each person good luck with their growing, and a few people told me they recognized me from the Dell. Despite being warned, I did not expect such fast-paced shopping. A treasure hunt, a whirlwind of gardeners with a mission. I’m quite enchanted by the community’s passion for these special flowers.” Over the course of the whole morning, John D kept sweeping up, clearing our tables, shining our stage and generally tidying up the mayhem wrought by enthusiastic shoppers. Erik exclaimed, “Jarrod worked everywhere: counting, sorting, encouraging, and cleaning!” As stock and shoppers dwindled, Peggy accumulated a couple flats of 4×4’s to infuse the second San Leandro sale. Erik ferried home a couple flats to bring back for our May meeting sale. $uch a $ucce$$! So many people jumped into cleanup—even Cynthia, the guard, swept out! DSC you did it again. Excellent co-operation, execution and most importantly, GREAT ATTITUDE! Thank you everyone who contributed so open heartedly!
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
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
ENDLESS LEGACY
Decades-long member, Annie, sent us this. “ My story starts at a Dahlia Society meeting in ~1993, I think, when Jack Almand gave a talk about propagating dahlias from seed.
He had several seeds for us to take that I believe came from Almand Joy. I took several and three of them germinated and I put them in pots. One, my favorite, had a magenta dinner plate blossom. I quickly called it Annie’s Joy! The other two have been lost over time, one was yellow maybe a size B, and the other was also magenta but smaller than Annie’s Joy. One year, maybe in 2016, I lost Annie’s Joy, I am not sure what happened and I was heart-broken. But later my friend asked me for advice for dividing the clump of dahlia tubers which came from the gift I had given her years ago, an Annie’s Joy tuber! Resurrection, I was so thrilled to get my oldest and dearest dahlia back growing in my garden! Thirty-two years old and still growing strong!” Great story, Annie, thank you. Shows you how important having other people “bank” some of your favorite varieties.
GARDEN RESOURCE
https://sfrecpark.org/1404/Urban-Agriculture-Resources
This is a great source for gardening tips. Note the days they give away free compost! BYOB (Bring your own bucket). Thanks to Maggie and Julia for this excellent resource.
DUES ARE DUE MAY 1
It’s time to renew your annual DSC (Dahlia Society of California) and/or ADS (American Dahlia Society) membership. Our membership year is from May 1, 2025 through April 30, 2026. The dues are as follows:
Dahlia Society of California only:
Individual Membership……………………………..$10.00
Family Membership…………………………………..$15.00
American Dahlia Society AND Dahlia Society of California:
Individual Membership……………………………..$40.00
Family Membership…………………………………..$50.00
To learn about each of the above categories and to join please visit dahliadell.org and click on Join. You may also print out the membership form and mail it with your check to Debbie Frank, 226 28th Ave, SF CA 94121
Click here to go directly to the web site: https://www.dahliadell.org/store-2
SIDEWALK GARDEN
Julia reports that her sidewalk garden is up and blooming for the second year! Surely her neighbors appreciate her colorful contribution to their neighborhood.
DAHLIA EXPRESS
So Dell volunteer, John P, happened to mention that he was driving down to San Diego via Santa Ana. Deborah’s brain clicked into calculation mode: could he transport a flat of dahlias to her SoCal brother? The magic of technology hooked us all up. In the wee hours just off Freeway 5, a handoff was effected. A geodesic dome is now growing dahlias in Tustin. And more dahlias are being grown in San Diego, too. Win win win and bloom bloom bloom.
HILL AND DALE TURN GREEN
Sarah reported fat buds on her second tier lush plants that soon turned into First Blooms on the Hillside. Sandia Lillian is a gorgeous purply pink waterlily. Mini and Erik have finished up sinking their gopher cages and planting on the upper level. Tim planted several of his second and third year introductions. What a treat they will be to see! Gerry and Tinnee trucked in voluptuous cuttings. To the beat of the 60’s they planted the entire Eastern quarter. Whew! By the end of May they achieved First Bloom in the Tear Drop with a jaunty GG’s Ruby Tuesday. In the early dawns, Lou has been planting, often a tuber and a cutting of the same variety to a stake. It’s fun to watch the growth patterns of the two. They always seem to catch up to each other right in time for our show! Note how Lou excises dinner plate sized troughs around each stake to hold water. Ken and Nicole have both become experts at field dressing and planting. So many of Deborah’s dahlias are sophomores (second years). They shoot up 10-15 shoots in last year’s soil. Not ideal. So Ken and Nicole gently dig up the whole mass. They reinvigorate the hole with worm castings, Dr. Earth Flower Girl with microrhyzzae and add a little pinch of 70 different trace minerals. Then they replant the most vigorous clump back into place. The remaining tubers and sprouts they pot up in 4×4’s and gallon pots. John Phan stopped by one Saturday to help plant. Steve, besides digging excellent compost holes, is on a campaign to eradicate weeds especially the little pink deeply rooted devils that camouflage themselves blending into the dirt. Go Steve! Sarah is working her way through the massive drip system to see what needs upgrading. Meanwhile, Deborah “gardens” as best she can from her little bench.
JUST TAKE IT EASY JUNE
If you’ve done everything right, June is your cushy month. All the dahlias are planted and off to a good start. All the irrigation is in place and working correctly. All the stakes are pounded and labeled. All the amendments have been added and your micro community underground is thriving. This is the time to take a cruise, go to Hawaii, surf Costa Rica, venture into the heart of Africa on safari. All your dahlias need right now is water and sun.
Pinching out, Stopping, Topping
All these terms mean the same thing: removing the growing tip of your plant to encourage a deeper root system and more leaves. Some people, like Kristine Albrecht, pinch out as soon as they can count 4-5 leaf pairs. Check out her excellent short videos on YouTube. Others, like our Lou, never pinch out. I suggest that instead of counting little leaves, wait until you can spot the beginning of first bud production. Find the leaf PAIR that belongs to this terminal FIRST bud, and pull the leaf pair up over the top of the forming bud. Bend off right below that first leaf pair. Ta Dah! You have successfully topped your dahlia. It is hard to do when you want to see first blooms soooooo badly. But it really makes for bushier plants and establishes a stronger foundation from which to get so many more glorious blooms all summer long.
Disbudding
Only one bud per stem is a show-dahlia rule but many who do not compete still prefer to disbud. Usually a dahlia will develop a terminal bud and 2-4 extra buds between the terminal bud and the first leaf pair. By removing these extra 2-4 little buds early, the terminal bud will unfold larger, the stem will be stronger and longer, and the next round of terminal buds will start sooner.
Companion plants
“Alyssum is great at attracting/hosting beneficial insects. I planted a flat last year and didn’t see any aphids all year. This year I have some planted along with marigolds.” Sandy Boley, famous ball and waterlily hybridizer, posted this encouragement. Lucy and Paula intersperse their dahlias and other types of bloomers in magnificent tier and hillside cascades of color. Companion plants are great in sidewalk gardens and even in big pots. Horticulturalist’s maxim for potted plants: Filler, Thriller and Spiller. Filler: little low growing items to cover the dirt, like alyssum. Thriller: the star of the show, a major DAHLIA! And Spiller: something like dangling rosemary, Wandering Jew, or any hanger-over-the-edge-of-the-container colorful plant. Voila! a masterpiece.
Maps, XL Spread Sheets, Grids, Notes
Suspenders and belt: you just can’t overdo documentation of which varieties are where. I have a grid for my section of the Dell. Rows A-P and numbers down each row. I write up an XL spreadsheet with my cultivar names along the left side. Across the top I have ADS 4# code, size, form, color, geo code for place in the Dell, and source of the plant. I also have a clipboard with a piece of paper for each row. I can walk down the row, refer to my clipboard and know exactly what I’m looking at. Of COURSE every dahlia is labeled with a long venetian blind tag. I write pencil notes on this tag throughout the season: 5’ wants more sun, double disbud for longer stems, prone to aphids, attracts mildew. I do not trust my memory to catalog hundreds of tiny facts any more. Writing things down as soon as I note them is my salvation. I find pencil lasts through sun and rain, through insect spray and fertilization spray. It does not fade in the sun the way Sharpies do. I can bury the tag and still read it when exhumed. Lou, Tinnee and Sue laminate their labels: so very very nice!
Nudging Germination
Paula experimented with accelerating germination. Since tubers need heat, darkness and humidity, she put her big pots into a warm shower stall on top of cookie trays of water. Magic! Within 10 days she FINALLY convinced a few sprouts to emerge. I’ve had two tubers of Quamrun’s spectacular Hollyhill Confetti up in my loft since February, inside a milk carton, covered with soil, no water. Last week I finally broke down. In a last ditch effort, I dumped in a TEASPOON of water right on the recalcitrant crown. Today I discovered a little purple nub! Whew! Figure out what they want and try to give it to them…….
Yours in dirt,
Deborah
Photo Credits: D. Dietz, J. Dietz, Die, Gaensler, Jeung, Kaiser, Kalcic, Knight, Krischenko, Smith, Soderstrom, Viral
Meticulous proofreading: Steve
URL securing: Mini