Last fall, I read an announcement in the Washington Post for a dahlia show at Brookside Gardens. I had been gardening for years and had a few dahlias in my backyard plot but I did not know there was a world of competitive dahlia growing. I attended the show and couldn’t believe the beauty or the large variety of the flowers. There were blooms of all shapes, sizes and colors from 1 inch purple balls to giant cactus like flowers over a foot-wide. I spoke with some of the growers/showers and after sensing their pride and passion I wanted to grow some blooms like the ones I saw at the show. While at the show, I joined the local dahlia society – National Capital Dahlia Society ( nationalcapitaldahlia.org ) – and my journey as a dahlia grower began.
Attending meetings and events of the dahlia society has been helpful but as a novice grower I constantly find myself searching the web for information. There are a lot of good websites out there but I have not been able to find a dahlia growing blog. So now I am going to share my experiences and hopefully create something of value for dahlia fans. In this blog, I plan to write about the challenges and rewards of growing dahlias. I also hope to be able to utilize my interest in photography by displaying some of my favorite images of dahlias.
To start off, here are a few shots of blooms from my garden.

Aitara Diadem - a small bi-colored formal decorative dahlia.

Honka - a yellow orchid-form dahlia.

Devon Charmlea - a small purple formal decorative dahlia.