To see the full original newsletter with all the photos click here to get the pdf: Sept 2024 Newsletter
NEXT MEETING September 10 at 7:30.
Program: Novice only Mini $how, keeping dahlias blooming through Halloween, and Show appraisal. Please come as early as 6:30 to set up your dahlias. Please use official entry forms. Who will bring comestibles for hungry gardeners?
SUCCESSFUL SHOW STRATEGY
Katey showed everyone how she had color flagged her schedule and listed suggested varieties for special (G, H, J, K) categories. Erik reminded people that however much time they guesstimated they’d need to set up, “To double it!” Deborah reiterated the show packing list on the dahliadell.org website. Mildew and diabratica were Prime Enemies in August. Many mildew formulae purported to do the trick: baking soda and milk, commercial fungicides, clear up to the lethal Eagle. Diabratica, the little green and black ladybug-like munchers, were cursed often. Cayenne pepper, Spinosad, and nasty insecticides were suggested. Deborah remembered a commercial grower in Half Moon Bay using a small computer vacuum and sucking up the little monsters. Grrr.
GARDENERS’ DELIGHTS
So many delicious cookies. Alex and Allison brought both chocolate chip cookies AND ginger snaps AND a whole pallet of cocktail shrimp. Brigid’s oatmeal cookies didn’t last much past opening remarks. Anita’s triple chocolate zucchini bread proved the best of the season. Adding to Jenna’s peanuts, were Pat’s biscuits and chocolates. Ever mindful of our waistlines, Katy donated cheeses, almonds and apples. Thank you for your generosity ALL OF YOU!
DSC AT ORCHID SHOW?
Jenna, John P, Jen T and Pat represented our illustrious society at the annual Orchid show. Atop Jen T’s dahlia tablecloth, Jenna mounted Erik’s venerable poster triptych and a great bouquet of dahlia orchids and orchettes surprising many people with the existence of orchid types of dahlias. They answered questions about the Dahlia Dell, growing options and even added a few DSC memberships! Thank you DAHLIA AMBASSADORS!
HOT STUFF: DAHLIAS IN SOUTHBAY
Silicon Valley dahlias face several challenges. Marie showed Deborah and Jen T how her drip system gives extra water am and pm to counter the severe summer heat. Marie even has a shade house both to keep critters like bunnies and deer away as well as to reduce sun glare. Two levels of rain gutters run the edges of the structure forming an ingenious way to grow strawberries above ground. Chickens and dogs keep marauders at bay in her other 2 patches. Marie grows various “filler” plants to combine with dahlias for her almost daily bouquets. A favorite is Celosa Flamingo amaranth. After keying out several great looking Labyrinths, Urchins, and AC Abbys, Marie hosted lunch in a graceful gazebo covered with bright blue morning glories. Such a great field trip!
JUDGING SCHOOL
Training discerning judgement is so important that DSC paid the tuition of our members who participated in Lou’s great disquisition. John M and Kristine A helped pass around appropriate demonstration blooms and petals: all forms are defined by petal shape. 43 growers are now more educated about color, hue, tint, blend, bi, and variegation. They know the difference between a stem and a stalk (stem is from the flower to the first set of leaves; stalk goes the rest of the way down the plant.) ADS posts a great series of judging lessons on line to learn at your leisure. Check them out.
THINKING ABOUT 2025: DAHLIA CALENDARS
Alan Fisher of the Capitol Dahlia Society in DC offers another gorgeous calendar for They are $14. He will have some for sale at the National Show in Wenachee and also by mail. Maybe someone going to Wenachee could buy a few for those of us interested? If someone wants to organize a group purchase via mail, please let Deborah know how to facilitate your project.
SNIP SNIP: RIBBON CUTTING
Dignitaries galore attended the official acknowledgement of The Hillside’s completion. Erik brilliantly MC’d by introducing the architect, the construction boss, and the various REC and Park Alliance officials instrumental in getting our beautiful new hillside erected in time for April planting this year. Our benefactress, Stasia, joined the team to snip the bright red ribbon Jenna devised for the illustrious ceremony. Tim, Erik, Mini, Sarah and Sue’s Hillside dahlias dazzled everyone. Mini was surprised to be interviewed by the Chronicle for their article with pix. As a result, visitors arrived for the next couple weeks with the copy in hand to see the luscious panoply of dahlias.
FROZEN PICNIC
Nick, Kevin and other roustabouts carried chairs and tables down from the Conservatory (and ultimately back again); Jenna draped them (the tables) in Barbie Pink. Drink and Food tables displayed yummy potluck treats. Lucy brought another designer cake. The duo Jeanie and Chuck Poling played lively bluegrass. Jenn T presided over Jenna’s information table. Erik performed his informative Walk ’n Talk tour of the Hillside and Teardrop, answering questions and cracking jokes. So great to see so many families and friends despite the chilly bite in the air: our first picnic since Covid! People passed around the Richmond News with Deborah and Sarah on the front page above the fold. The Sunset Beacon and other local sheets picked up Linda Badger’s invitation to our show complete with several photos. Yay!
FLORIBUNDA! What a fabulous show!
Our Big Show unfurled with nary a hiccup which is testimony to all the work done months in advance. Pat helped Linda Badger write an article that appeared in several of the neighborhood papers, including enticing pix of the Dell, quips from Deborah (Life is better with dahlias), and show details including the key word, FREE. Erik made sure the Chronicle coverage of the Ribbon Cutting ceremony included an alluring invitation to our Show. Sarah helped several on-line ‘zines announce our event. Jenna hung posters all over including the Dell with precise particulars. Social Media blared our upcoming occasion. As a result, we had the biggest public turnout in memory! Wow!!
Friday night through the wee hours
Julie jumped in to help burly boys like Tony lug tables. Nick nabbed his girlfriend to help set up! What a date. Pat and Joe led the tablecloth drapers whilst Tinnee helped Lou arrange signage. Growers loved the earlier start time for staging. Judi, Steve and Heather drove up from San Luis Obispo while it was still light with spectacular blooms. Iris and Dave drove up from Santa Cruz in their camper, so they had their own B&B when they finally finished setting their exhibits out. Sooo clever! Deborah, Sarah and Erik reaped their harvest from the Dell and staged until the wee hours. Erik walked the tables giving tips and sharing from his “Masurat lending library” of extra pin frog vases. Susan P arranged her French Olympics theme. Tara helped write exhibit cards, truck specimens to their appointed tables, and clean up until 1 o’clock in the morning! Exhibitors sustained themselves on Tinnee’s sandwiches and Tara’s fig hors d’oeuvrs.
Judging: cellular and digital
Having worked out glitches at the Central Coast show, Kristi expected San Francisco to blithely sail; ah, the best laid plans…… Internet signal went down; Julie’s cell inexplicably would not hold the XL code. Nevertheless, Jon and Francis plowed through using their expertise from the previous weekend. John and Annette learned fast. Ultimately, indefatigable Kauna proved our SuperStar; she mastered the concept and recorded twice as many categories as the others! Whew! Stamina and determination. The only category done by hand was the specials: D, E, F, G, H, I, J, and K. Paula, Lena and Lisa judged their way around the entire Galleria perimeter. We NEED MORE JUDGES!
Winners
Congratulations to Iris for her lovely 20th Ave Memory; to Lou for his Best Large, Clearview Cameron, and to Ed for his Best Open Centered, Lo Redeye. Sweepstakes went to Steve and Judi for Open; to Lou P for Amateur; to Francis and Jon for Novice; and to Jenna for Arrangement Sweepstakes! Congratulations to Erik for Best Stellar, Clearview Lila; to Cathy Betancourt for Best First Year Seedling; to Tinnee for Smallest Pom, Nellie’s Rose; and to Sarah for Best x5 small Novice, Eden Alice. Four juniors exhibited, a new record for DSC. Ultimately Abby prevailed with a darling Skipley Spot of Gold. Largest Dahlia in the World triumphed for Peggy. Her Maki almost growled at 13 5/8”. Iris’s Emory Paul, 12 1/4” ran a close second. John Ko prevailed with Best Photo. https://www.dahliadell.org/ 2024-annual-show Quamrum built several mass displays and baskets. So many people had fun with the arrangements. Sarah’s Pole Vault rendition was eclipsed by her riff on Rowing. Super entertaining! Jenna took a victory lap with Best Arrangement, Victory Torch.
Membership table sets new record
Jenna staged an irresistible membership area complete with poster, tuber clump, and People’s Choice, won by Heather J for Slo Sweetheart. Two QR codes facilitated easy cell sign ups. Julia devised seed packets to reward each new membership of which there were over ONE HUNDRED!! Astonishing! Debbie says more keep trickling in. What great sales people. Our roving ambassadors explained all the dots, hybridization, how to join, and why the different tables.
Foto op spots
Jenna picked from the Wardens and Tim’s sections and leftover exhibit blooms to make two dahlia walls and an ingenious wreath, with help from Julia, Lisa, Nathaniel, Marissa and Lisa. Photos from these plastered social media. I loved seeing Lisa boosting her dog into position for the wreath. Julia also brought chalk for the kids to scratch a dahlia declaration across the courtyard. AND Julia set up a children’s art table behind Rachel Perls “studio” where she painted a bright orange dahlia as the crowd marveled at her hyper realistic dahlia paintings.
Sunday judging seminar:
stellar vs formal decorative Once again, Lou reminded us that nature doesn’t recognize categories; we use these terms to help us judge dahlias. Should the petal involute like a canoe or end like a spoon? Pointed or Round? Just as Ball is on a spectrum that morphs into Formal Dec, so Formal Dec is on a spectrum that can merge into Stellar. Very few dahlias are pure in form.
New and Cool
Quamram tempted the public with an enormous Grandpa’s Gift, A ID Var, for People’s Choice. Spectacular! Dazzling in a flame blown glass vase was Deborah’s Hometown Hero, B ID FL. Soraya won green with a BB FD DB Caproz Pizzaz. Lisa’s Bloomquist Jody Lynn, BB ID DB, captured imaginations. We all swooned over Iris’s newest seedling, a lavender ?? with dark purple reverse. Obviously this one falls outside our staid form categories, but it’s so beguiling! Iris’s M ID Or looked just like a Bloomquist Jean mini-me. Judi caused a stir with both Hapet Duple MBA fl and Josudi Neptune M ID Bi. Darling!
Teardown magicians
After Lou distributed many many check$ to winners and ca$h to the Juniors, breakdown erupted. In their zeal to collect tables, our missionfocused roustabouts moved some exhibits to the consternation of growers who didn’t know where their containers disappeared to. So many people helped collect still lovely dahlias for Julia. “We sent 65 bouquets to CPMC Van Ness Campus (NICU) and another 25 to the UCSF adult hospital at Mission Bay.” They were very well received!” So many DSCers pitched in to collect containers, dump water, dry vases, wrap pots, and stuff it all in cars. Thank you ALL for the willingness to do whatever was needed in the moment. Our show was superb!
DAHLIA DELLIANS AND HILLSIDE GANG
What a month for growth explosion! Check out Sue’s beautifully labeled right side of the Hill, including her exceptional Tartan and darling Mingus Toni. Her pockets are full of doggie treats. Erik loves sharing the dahlia bounty at his many hospitals. Sarah is so proud of her Court of Honor Eden Alice. In fact, Sarah has her whole family blooming: Daddy’s Girl, Twisted Sister, Frizzy Lizzy, Bracken Sarah, Nadine Jessie, and Bloomquist Paul Jr.. May we look forward to Walter Hardesty next season? Tinnee and Jerry gild their manicured preserve with precise Zen raking. Check out so many new-to-us gorgeous dahlias, like this huge orange waterlily, Olivia Marie. Lou’s new seedlings display numbers, not names. Check out our future. Every bloom of his could easily win Best of Show at any time. Ken started her dahlia apprenticeship on Elvira and worked her way around the Petting Zoo. Karen continues to be the transplanting specialist and Brigid snatches cruddy lower leaves exposing strong stalks. Thanks to John and Lucas for deadheading and weeding. Deborah is continually asked about the jugs atop her stakes. Here are her 3 official explanations. 1. The plastic bottles are scuppers to handwater needy plants 2. The bobbling of the scuppers on metal poles dissuade birds and disturb underground moles, voles and gophers 3. Deborah’s back is delicate; she prefers to pick tools out of the air rather than bend down to scoop them up. A little unsightly but oh so practical. Sarah engineered an intricate drip system for Deborah’s section and kept tweaking its little problems. It felt like a job that never ended until she discovered magic couplers that worked with their new hose threads. Whew! Total success at last. Brilliant Sarah!
SUMPTUOUS SEPTEMBER
Rogue
Is there a dahlia bush that’s just not quite right? A little stubby? Scrubby? Unhappy? Now is the time to toss it in the garbage—not your compost pile. Check the names against the ADS roster. Does it match its ADS definition? If you don’t know the name and can’t key it out, at least write size, form and color; eg BB FD Y. These should go into our Surprise! bin of unnamed dahlias at our TuberSale. They will make beginners VERY happy and concern you no more. Do you have more that one of any variety? Label which is the better specimen. This is the one you will keep and even plant a second tuber next season. Swan Island plants a row of over a hundred of any variety. As you peer down down down that glorious row, you realize that a couple are smaller than the others and a couple are significantly larger and more robust than the other 90 some confreres. Swan Island only plants these super achievers next year. This is one way they keep their stock so strong and healthy. It’s crazy to be thinking about next year already; it’s like thinking about more food whilst gorging on a spectacular feast. How wonderful.
Deadheading, Double Disbudding?
As the sun begins to wane and days grow shorter, dahlias have less exposure; they grow more slowly and less strong. If you notice that some stems are short and spindly, you might try double disbudding, removing the second level of little buds as well as the first set. This will concentrate all that extra energy into a single lovely dahlia. You can’t give your beauties more light but you could give them a little dahlia viagra: calcium nitrate. Add it to your cocktail. Especially make sure you cut back to significant NEW GROWTH when deadheading. When you do this correctly, your plant releases a hormone to try to make seeds again—that is, make another flower. If you cut in the wrong place, where no new growth can occur, your plant will just stop producing green leaves and turn stickly brown. So sad. If you deadhead well and properly, you should have blooms at least until Halloween if not Thanksgiving.
Seeds
However, if you want seeds, you have to let your blooms go to seed on your plant. This looks junky and sad, but produces lottery tickets of new promise for next year. Disciplined hybridizers will cross pollens by hand and place organza bags over the bloom to prevent other pollinators from contaminating their gene selections. Our Lou lets the bees do his crossing. After all the shows are over, he stops deadheading. His flowers bloom, pop center, begin dropping petals until only the fat seed container is left. These can be picked and put in water in a window until brown and dry. Then Lou hangs them upside down to dry. Some hybridizers keep track of both mother and pollen donator; some just the mother; others just the seeds without genetic antecedants.
Cocktail du jour
This month I worry most about mildew. The amounts I’m using are for a gallon of spray: 1 tablespoon of Baking Soda dissolved in 1/2 cup of whole milk 2 tablespoons of Stylet Oil 2 tablespoons of Calcium nitrate dissolved in water to strengthen stems 1 tablespoon dishwashing SOAP not detergent to help your cocktail stick to the leaves 1 teaspoon commercial fungicide from any big box store 1 teaspoon Captain Jack’s Dead Bug only if there are abundant caterpillars, aphids, thrips or other bugs I use the finest mist that my sprayer will spew. I get under my leaves and inside my clumps. I try to spray at dusk when most of the pollinators have retired for the evening and after I’ve watered. I LOVE the electric sprayer Steve gifted me. What a lot of pump pump pumping it saves! September is both the culmination of all we’ve been working towards and the beginning of the decline. Enjoy the glory RIGHT NOW. Throw a garden party. Visit other people’s gardens. Give away your beautiful dahlias; make many people’s day! Bring dahlias to our Novice Only Mini Show! Each entry teaches us something.
Yours in dirt,
Deborah
Photo credits: Dietz, Donahue, Gaensler, Ide, Kaiser, Shepard, Tanlimco, Tobiason
URLS: Mini and Sarah