To see the full original newsletter with all the photos click here to get the pdf: October 2024 Newsletter
NEXT MEETING: October 8 at 7:30 at 9th and Lincoln.
Program: Julie will share her experiences at the ADS National Show in Wenatchee. Deborah will lead a discussion about how to start setting your dahlias up for digging up, sowing a cover crop, and mulching with leaves. Erik will share pix about cutting back and prepping to dig out. Who will bring treats to share with your fellow gardeners?
FLORIBUNDA REDUX
Erik led us through wonderful memories of our outstanding DSC Annual Competition and Exhibition. We met many judging teams, gardeners staging blooms, roustabouts setting up and tearing down our tables, and long lines of the public waiting to take selfies at Jenna’s amazing 3 photo op spots. So much fun seeing the team at the membership table who signed up over 100!! new DSC participants. How big was Peggy’s Largest Dahlia in the World????
NOVICE ONLY MINI SHOW
Wow! 63 blooms graced our show table! So glad our exhibitors arrived early and staged BEFORE our meeting started. Check out Katey’s cool equipment carrier. Sarah explained her first judging experience. “Balls should be round. They should go all the way back.” Deborah pointed out fun esoterica. “Giggles has collorette feathers which go clear to the edge of the 8 orange main petals. Ideally, these would only be 1/4 to 1/2 the length. But tonight, Lisa’s Giggles is the Best Collerette here.” Ultimately Lisa’s two Diva and Peaches ’n Cream went into a People’s Choice sudden death with Anita’s AC Rooster and Best in Show 20th Ave. Memory. Congratulations to Katey for Best x3 Red
Velvet and Lisa’s Best x5, remarkably well matched Vista Minnies! Thanks to our entire group for helping these audacious gardeners clear away and wrap up their containers. It’s great to see our group helping each other out like that.
FANCY FUEL
Thank you to Erik for his odd Zubi minibites, and to John and Annette for their huge bag of wafer cookies. Ken and Kathy baked us such light and soft pineapple cookies. Anita’s alfajores shortbread cookies with dulce de leche must have been wonderful because they all disappeared while judging occurred. Oh Steve, such surprisingly marvelous watermelon balls with little toothpick picker uppers! Jen brought us seriously adult chocolates—chocolates to smoke Gaulouise fags and discuss Sarte chocolates! Sophisticated chocolates. Asparagus with wasabi dip! Such a surprise to the mouth, Katey. Wow. So many people scarfed up Katey’s asperagus, that she divulged her recipe:
KATEY’S ASPERAGUS DIP
3/4 c. mayonnaise
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp lemon or lime juice
2 tsp wasabi paste
Serve with blanched asparagus
2025 CALENDARS
Alan Fisher from Capitol Dahlia Society in DC produced beautiful dahlia calendars for 2025: $14 each. Deborah has 3 left. Contact her for arrangements.
DAHLIA SAFARI by ALLISON AND ALEX
Alex and Allison’s Dahlia Safari trip – August 29-Sept. 8th
We headed out from Mill Valley to the Swan Island Dahlia Farm’s festival in Canby, Oregon near Portland. They grow more than 370 varieties on 40 acres; they are the largest dahlia farm in the United States. We stayed in Portland, Oregon for a few days and explored Washington Park, the Rose Garden and hiked around Hoyt Arboretum. Portland has many fabulous restaurants to enjoy! After leaving Portland, we headed up to Western Washington for some dahlia garden tours, which were arranged by the American National Dahlia Society:
Misfit Dahlias in Snohomish WA. Christine Tareen, the owner, has alpacas and uses their manure; and she also makes her own compost to put around her dahlias. Her dahlias were amazing and so big!
Soaring Hearts – Patti and Doug Northman in Arlington WA – Beautiful dahlias and such a nice couple to spend time with.
Birch Bay Dahlias in Ferndale WA – Sandy & Steve Boley – best known for hybridization of waterlily dahlias and ball forms.
North Cascade Dahlias in Lynden WA – Hybridizer of BLOOMQUIST !! dahlias. We had the privilege of meeting Mr. Bloomquist who is 82 years old. He is retiring and his son Thomas is taking over the business.
Maks Dahlia Farm in Cashmere, WA. Al Kaas, the owner, is known for hybridization of Maks dahlias. Al has so many umbrellas and a huge shade house.
The next day we toured the Rocky Reach Dam, a hydroelectric dam on the Columbia River which provides energy for 7 million people. Afterwards, we visited Chelan Butte Dahliary, a hybridizer playground for over 500 cultivars.
On Friday night before the national dahlia show, we attended a reception at the Plybus Public Market in Wenatchee to meet dahlia lovers from all over the country. Saturday was the start of the big dahlia show in Wenatchee, WA. Upon entering the big conference room, we were in awe of all the stunning dahlias. We attended some seminars on growing dahlias in adverse conditions such as scorching Australia, ADS virus study research, and basic 101 dahlia growing by Al Kaas. On Saturday evening, we attended the Banquet and Awards Ceremony. Here’s some of the top Winners:
- Best Dahlia of the Year – Bloomquist Jean
- Best Novelty – Twizzle
- Best Giant – (AA) Sir Alf Ramsey
- Best Miniature – Clearview Butterscotch
- Best Ball – Mary’s Jomanda
Thank you, Allison and Alex!
FOOTNOTES TO NATIONAL SHOW
One of the big controversies at the Wenatchee Show was the “artichoke” dahlia of Steve and Sandy Boley. It looked like a waterlily gone tightly to sleep without ever waking up. WL or NX? Really cool. Francis and John report that they clerked. In Washington, entire classes are judged at the same time. For example: Collorettes, Novice, Amateur and Open all judged by the same team. Peggy noted that instead of pin frogs, exhibitors use cans stuffed with soggy cellulose gunk. Challenging to mount x3 or x5 in this stuff. Kauna cited the huge ribbon for the best micro peony, Elvira. So glad so many DSCers experienced the excitement of a National Show. Next year, who’s attending in Chicago?
PARIS OLYMPIC DAHLIA?
Brigid sent in these great links about Christophe Kneblewski, who was tasked with developing a new dahlia to mass plant to spiff up venues and parks all over Paris. Read how he did it.
https://www.paris.fr/en/pages/50-000-new-dahlias-created-for-the-paris-2024-games-27930
Article in English and video in French.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxnj24D8gnQ
YouTube …in English
Thank you, Brigid.
SAN LEANDRO SHOW
What a beautiful show held in the air conditioned San Leandro Library! As they awaited opening doors, Iris demonstrated her new double decker lightweight foldup cart. For her long and bumpy trip up from Santa Cruz, Iris secured several of her entries by tying them up to dowels to protect their vulnerable necks. Very practical. Given the brief staging time on Saturday morning—8:30-10 am—frenzied exhibitors and wonderful SL helpers mounted blooms wildly and quickly. Congratulations to our Tinnee for Best Large, Edna C; To Lou for Amateur Sweepstakes, to Peggy for her lovely Old Fashioned Bouquet and to Quamrun for her wonderful Mass Display. Francis and John nabbed Best Novice Bloom, Phil, as well as Novice Sweepstakes. Congrats to Abby for Junior Sweeps. Cathy Betancourt created the Best First Year Seedling. Good to see Tinnee’s Eden Sunday Steve and Deborah’s Rolf along with Lou’s Skip to My Lou Best BB on the Head Table. Major kudos to John K for sweeping the entire photo section! In honor of their 90th anniversary, San Leandro built a great photo op stop. They also sold dahlias by the stem. It was weird to see strangers walking around the show with huge bouquets of purchased dahlias! For all the winners:
https://www.dahliadell.org/2024-annual-show
NEW AND COOL IN SAN LEANDRO
Deborah’s Best Anemone, CDP Shockwave, reverberated in many a camera: such a stunning red with sparkly center. Becky’s Clearview Blaze M FD FL showed great color, too. Clearview Leroux by Chris D, a big red bruiser A SC wowed . In contrast, Heather’s Cream Diane B FD Y shimmered with understated loveliness. Beverly’s collorette, Baron Wendy, arrested many eyes.
SAN JOSE OASIS
Jen T drove Steve, Deborah and Lucy down to visit Quamron and Gary. They knew immediately which house belonged to them: huge dahlia garden in front with windy stone paths interspersed with other florals. Then Deva said, “This is nothing. You should see the rest.” Turning the corner, they gasped! Major terraces three tiers up for 40 feet, beautifully painted red supporting a lavish collection of BA, MBA and Poms. Gorgeous leaves! no mildew, no bugs. Dahlia Heaven. More hedges of dahlias on this level including voluptuous Wildwood Maries and Hollyhill CanCan delighted us. On the lower level AC Ben towered over Lucy’s head and AC ATM loomed two feet above Deborah’s. Such robust BIG dahlias! Quamrun commented, “I eat from my garden all year long.” Spotted in little pockets of soil were cool tomato trellises, eggplants, hot peppers, an apple tree sagging under the weight of all the fruit and monster Bangladeshi gourds. Wow!
WHAT COLOR IS YOUR DAHLIA?
Tara cited this explanation of ADS color chips and their representation with actual dahlias. Illuminating!
https://7h332.r.a.d.sendibm1.com/mk/mr/sh/1t6AVsd2XFnIGBp1hRThCfLlx5nlmm/5EHGqaQa_9Qr
DELL AND HILLSIDE HAPPENINGS
The 8 donors have been battling dreaded mildew. Grrr. With these drippy mornings beneath overcast that does not burn off, the inevitable fungal invasion proves hard to staunch. Nevertheless, throngs of visitors marvel at our glorious blooms. Sue arrives early to manage the rife proliferation of her whole right side of the Hill. She always has treats for her favorite dogs. Because people have begun commenting on the devolution in Lou’s section, he posted an explanation. In order to hybridize, he needs seeds. To get seeds, he literally has to let his garden “go to seed.” He does not deadhead. He lets his dahlias mature, pop center, deteriorate, loose petals and form fat pods full of promises for next year. In contrast, Tinnee and Gerry manicure their section of very cool cultivars. Their George C, B FD DR, is Gorgeous George. What a magnificent Thomas Edison: huge and PURPLE! So glad to have Francis, John and Troy visit and share their experiences from the National Show. They grow almost exclusively in pots! Amazing. How wonderful that Patricia brought her lovely granddaughter and her fiancée for a whirl around the dahlias. Deborah got a wonderful surprise. Nick, a complete stranger, arrived with a bag full of schmeered bagels that he had hand made—a tribute to the volunteers who tend all the beauty. Steve, Sarah and Deborah devoured his delicious artisanal delicacies which can be ordered through Tutu’s Bagels. Of course, Nick did not go home empty handed. He and his roommate sailed out of the park with major dahlia bouquets. What an unexpected act of delicious kindness! Our lovely Patricia returned with two spiky gifts—gopher alarms. Theoretically they emit irregular noise into the ground to irritate gophers, moles and voles. Cross your petals. Major thanks to Steve who is systematically taking home Deborah’s 5 gallon buckets, scouring them and returning them like new. (Karen commented on how disgusting they were….and Steve harkened.) Tim has begun cutting down his bushes in preparation for early dig up and dividing. He hopes to put many tubers on his SisterHood Gardens cutting table and making many MANY cuttings for his fellow dahlia fiends.
PARTY FOR THE PARKS
Through our partnership with the Parks Alliance, Jenna was invited once again to the annual Party for the Parks. Our friendly Dahlia Ambassador, Jenna Kaiser, made 65 dahlia corsages on Sept 21st for the Board, host committee, and sponsors to wear proudly. The theme was “night picnic” with a sunset color story and Aperol spritzes served. Naturally, Jenna tried to incorporate orange slices into some of her corsage creations. Many of the table arrangements came from Tim’s Sisterhood Gardens.
OCTOBER: ODDS ’N ENDS ’N BEGINNINGS
With less sun, your dahlia plants begin to decline. Cut back to significant new growth. Some gardeners might even double disbud—that is, remove the excess buds two levels down. This way all that energy will go into the single bloom, pushing it to be larger with a stronger, longer stem. Or not! just enjoy the wild proliferation as your dahlias try a few last valiant times to pursue their genetic destiny and produce seeds. Some people, like our Lou, let the bees indiscriminately pollinate; others like Tim or Kristine A, hand cross specific varieties and put mesh bags over the “pregnant” flowers to prevent any interlopers from adding a little something something to their special mix.
Field Notes and Roguing
I am still getting first blooms on some of the cuttings I planted in July. Peaches ’n Cream is lovely. River’s Purple Pinwheel and Blomquist Firecracker just stop me in my tracks—every time I pass by them! Janelle Denise BB ID y/r and Hometown Hero B ID F both stun me with their color, wild forms and floriferifness. When people ask me about Kenora Macop B, LC DR, I tell them this story. Gordie Leroux claimed his worst chemo infusion was called Macop B. So when this malevolently dark seedling unfurled he knew exactly what to name it. For a big dahlia it makes a lot of blooms; it’s hearty and grows boisterously; it has unusual leaves; the blooms hold their centers a looooong time; and it’s pretty flashy amongst its peers. Eden Sunday Steve and Blyton Softer Gleam are big dark pink and golden balls: strong stems, hold form a long time, easy to disbud. Lastly my surprise favorite, Daniel Edward M FD Pr/W from 1989! Exquisite pink globes on long dark stems with unusual fern-like leaves. Really stunning. Now is the time to decide who’s coming back to the party next year; which to keep and which to share at the DSC Tuber Sale. If you grew two or more of a given variety, decide which grew the best. Was that stellar performance due to location? amount of space? or genetics? Replant those tubers and share the other clumps. Note how tall it grew. Did it bush out? Should it have a little more than normal space next year to thrive? At the Dell, I try to put my shorter dahlias nearest the fence and gradiate all the way to the back row for better visitor viewing. Lucy grows on terraces, so height is especially crucial; she pairs tall ones for the back and short ones towards the front of each tier. I noted this year that GG’s Ruby Tuesday, a spectacular purple anemone, can be easily bullied by heftier neighbors. Next year I will put it in a more protected spot. WRITE DOWN your thoughts and observations NOW; you’ll be surprised how fast these profound musings disappear.
Stem Cuttings
You will notice little sprouts on your lower stalks. This is your dahlia’s last opportunity to replicate this season. I make these into late season stem cuttings, especially on my rarer and more valuable specimens. I choose sprigs with at least 3-4 sets of leaves; gutsier pros like our Lou nab at 3 sets. I remove the bottom-most leaves and put into a mixture of compost and perlite. Other growers prefer Root Riot or coir plugs. Some dip the growing tip in growth stimulator. I don’t. These wee cuttings need to go under lights in a warm environment like a greenhouse. You can pop them under a bank of shop lights in a spare room or even in your garage. But they need at least 12-16 hours of light. I spritz them once a day so they are moist but not wet. Try this. Not only will you have great dahlias to plant out early, you will also have some snazzy barter items.
Seed Heads
October yields great seed heads. These are your genetic lottery tickets. Like most lottery buys, they give wonderful suspense and then poufff! nothing. But occasionally….. you win something spectacular. Good luck!
Fertilizer, Spray, Watering?
Floating out there in the dahlia folk wisdom is the belief that late season fertilizer can cause weaker tubers. Who knows? I stop fertilizing the beginning of October, just in case. Mildew plagues my patch. I pull off the most egregious leaves and will spray one or two more times with Stylet Oil, baking soda and milk just to slap its ravaging hands. Grrr. Your dahlias will need less water as the light wanes. As long as they remain militantly turgid, they are fine. When you note a slight wilt, it’s time to water. At the park this is about every 10 days. So observe your plants and water accordingly.
Musing
September utterly goosed production at the Dell. EVERYTHING grew like Topsy. Each time I arrived, I gasped at all the work that needed doing. I noted which branches broke; which needed tying up. How many spent blooms escaped judicious deadheading and dumped hundreds of rotten petals all over my beautiful leaves. Which dahlia was growing so strong it bullied its way into stealing light from other frailer sisters. Sigh.
Then some tourist would cruise by and gush at the unexpected lavish beauty. They made me see THE BIG PICTURE and not all the petty details. I am indebted to these visitors for constantly reminding me of what a privilege it is to grow in one of the most famous parks in the world.
Yours in dirt,
Deborah
Photo Credits: Dibner, Dietz, Eldridge, FaSiOen, Kaiser, Krivoruchko, Kowaguchi, Murphy, Rory
Punctilious Proofreader: Steve
URL Producer: Mini