Dig on Dahlias

Join Joann and Allison chat with Jim Kassner. Jim is the Show Chair for the 2025 ADS Nationals in Chicago. He is responsible for making sure everything is in order for another fantastic national show. While we didn't spend much time discussing it, Jim is an excellent exhibitor and senior judge. Jim covers a few of the differences between exhibiting dahlias in the Pacific Northwest compared to exhibition in the Midwest. We also get a sneak peak into the speaker line up. 

Join Joann and Allison interview Marryn of The Farmhouse Flower Farm. Marryn shares with us a bit of her journey starting up a flower farm and how it has transitioned to focusing on dahlias and sweet peas.  Marryn has recently released her book Sweet Pea School: Growing and Arranging the Garden's Most Romantic Blooms. They are also beginning a new adventure in agrotourism remodeling a nearby farmhouse to offer some in-person flower farm experiences.  You can find out more about Marryn on her website www.thefarmhouseflowerfarm.com and on Instagram @thefarmhouseflowerfarm.

Join Joann and Allison interview Adrienne of Tah-Dahlia! Adrinne is back on the podcast and gives us an update on her meristem and tissue culture experiment with Hapet Old Charm.  You can find her first interview here: https://digondahlias.libsyn.com/ads-nationals-wenatchee-adrienne-with-tah-dahlia To follow Adrienne's dahlia journey, follow her Instagram account @tahdahlia. 

Join Joann and Allison interview Joe Morse of Wood Lily Farm. Joe recently married into a family of dahlia giants and is taking on growing the legacy of his wife's late grandfater Lewis Bloom. Lewis has many introductions under the Bloom prefix that Joe is working hard to find and grow out. Joe didn't stop there and has been on the hunt for nearly lost varieites of the past.  You can find out more about Joe on instagram @WoodLilyFarm. 

Join Joann and Allison interview Ellen Frost. Ellen owns a local flower cooperative, Local Color Flowers, shares a weekly newsletter and hosts an online community of growers called FlowerMore. Ellen shares with us how dahlia growers can effectively market themselves to local florists. To find out more about Ellen, visit www.ellenfrost.com or on instagram @ellenfrostflowers. While you're there, don't forget to sign up for her newsletter that provides weekly tips for florists and growers at no cost!

Alison is back for a second episode! Join Joann and Allison interview Alison Kutz of Sound Horticulture discuss biological controls for pest and disease managment. She is a wealth of knowledge and always a delight to have on the show. A little of what we cover today includes soil dwelling pests and the symbiotic relationship among plants. To find out more about Sound Horticulture, visit their website www.soundhorticulture.com or follow along on social media @SoundHorticulture.  To listen to Alison's first episode with us, visit https://digondahlias.libsyn.com/allison-kutz-of-sound-horticulture-interview. 

Join Joann and Allison interview Emily of Idlewild Blooms discuss how she incorporates data collection into her growing and hybridizing of dahlias to help her more effectively make growing decisions.  You can find out more about Emily and her farm and her data collection system at www.idlewildblooms.com as well as on social media @idlewildblooms. 

Join Joann and Allison interview Anne Maria of the Dahlia Legacy Project (DLP). Anne Maria shares with us all about the purpose of the DLP and all the exciting things they are doing. You can find out more about the DLP online at https://www.legacy.nwdahlia.org or on Instagram @the_dahlia_legacy_project.  The DLP is hosting a "Once-In-A-Decade" tuber sale starting April 28th! Find out more online. A sale not to be missed!

Join Joann and Allison interview Steve and Sandy Boley of Birch Bay Dahlias. Steve and Sandy share what they consider important when you are planning your garden specifically for hybridizing.  Steve and Sandy have a wealth of information available on their website www.BirchBayDahlias.com. They are reciepients of a long list of dahlia cultivar awards and acknowledgments from the American Dahlia Society. It comes as no surprise that they are well respected and appreciated among the dahlia community.

Join Joann and Allison talk about how to grow dahlias from seed. You can find a detailed print out of the dahlia seed starting process here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/62884bb9e41b241b62679f29/t/677df188a1c802279d2a20e8/1736307084881/How+to+Grow+Dahlias+from+Seed-2.pdf

Join Joann and Allison interview Blake and Thomas of North Cascade Dahlias share how they are are growing and managing 50,000 dahlias and an additional 4,500 first year seedlings on five acres continuing the Bloomquist dahlia line. Listen in for a sneak peak into Thomas' new line of dahlias and details on their upcoming spring sale.  You can find out more information about North Cascade Dahlias on social media @north_cascade_dahlias and on their website www.northcascadedahlias.com. Their next sale is February 18th, 2025 at 6pm Pacific Time. 

Join Joann and Allison interview Christine of Misfit Dahlias. The three of us discuss Christine's upcoming sale that includes her very first dahlia introduction, Misfit Kaleidoscope, how she is selling for several local hybridiziers and some discussion around the current dahlia market.  To find out more about Christine and what she is up to, head over to her website www.misfitdahlias.com or follow along on social media @misfit_dahlias.

Join Joann and Allison discuss the results of a social media post about what buyers want from dahlia stores. What is important to us as buyers and how we can collectively make it easier for people to tuber shop with confidence. 

Join Joann and I discuss our experiences with buying dahlia tubers and cuttings online and how it doesn't always go as planned. Following this episode, The Dig on Dahlias podcast is taking a winter break. We will be back for Season 2 in January 2025. Thank you for spending the year with us. We wish you a wonderful holiday season! 

Join Joann and Allison interview Jenica with Dahlias 4 DIPG. Following the loss of their son, Levi, Jenica and her family started this dahlia business as a way to raise funds and awarness for childhood cancer. Come listen to all the awesome things they are doing for families walking through the same journey.  You can reach out to the Levi's Legacy team and find out more about Dahlias 4 DIPG on Facebook. Find the Dahlias 4 DIPG page or the Levi's Legacy DIPG Foundation page. Their tubers will go for sale in spring at https://dahlias-4-dipg.myshopify.com/password. Also, follow their facebook page for dahlia auctions. 

Join Joann and Allison talk about how they have been digging and dividing their dahlias. We discuss some of the things we did differently this year and how they worked out in our gardens. 

Join Joann and Allison interview Adrienne of Tah-Dahlia! at the ADS National show in Wenatchee, WA.  Adrienne shares with us how she grows dahlias in Colorado's challenging climate as well as an exciting collaboration with a local potato grower to do tissue culture with a special dahlia.  Find about more about Adrienne and her beautiful flowers on instagram at @Tah-Dahlia!. 

Join Joann and Allison interview Amy from La Vida Dahlia (previously Rock Yard Blooms).  Amy shares her excitment over attending her first dahlia show! She went big traveling to the 2024 ADS Nationals! Amy also dives into the challenges of growing dahlias in New Mexico.  You can find more information about La Vida Dahlias on social media, @LaVidaDahlia and her website www.lavidadahlia.com.

Joann and Allison discuss how they are collecting seed now as well as how they are planning to collect seed for the 2025 season.

Thinking of taking some fall cuttings and overwintering? Join Joann and Allison interview Jesse Owen of Get Planted N.W. to learn how to successfully grow dahlias indoors through fall and winter. Jesse has over 15 years of experience in plant propagation and indoor growing and shares with us his experiences growing dahlias indoors.  To find more information about Jesse's dahlias go to https://www.facebook.com/Getplantednw or www.getplantednw.com. 

Thrips, aphids, nematodes oh my! Join Joann and Allison interview Alison Kutz of Sound Horticulture. Alison discusses how to utilize beneficial insects and biological controls to manage pest and disease pressures in non-toxic ways. To learn more about Sound Horticulture and what they have to offer, visit www.soundhorticulutre.com. Alison's website provides very helpful information about pests and diseases as well as which biological controls you can use to reduce these pressures.

Join Joann and Allison interview Emily and Elyse from Idlewild Blooms. Emily shares with us about her dahlia farm as well as how she utilizes her past profession in teaching dahlia growers how to run a more effiecent and effective website.  You can find more information about Idlewild Blooms at www.idlewildblooms.com. 

Join Joann and Allison as we chat with Deanna Anthony with Bloomtown Flowers in Federal Way, WA. Deanna is a dahlia grower  and Growing Kindness member.  You can find Deanna on Instagram at Bloomtown_Flowers or at her website https://bloomtown-flowers.myshopify.com.  For more information about the Growing Kindness Project visit their website at www.growingkindnessproject.org. They believe: "By starting where we are, using what we have, and doing what we can, we accomplish SO much. Every act of kindness has the potential to change a life. We never grow poor by giving. There is no better place than the garden to grow change." — The Growing Kindness Team This is the first of five interviews from the National Show. Stay tuned for the interviews with four more growers from across the US. 

Joann and Allison discuss how they are beginning to prepare for digging and dividing dahlias. 

Joann and Allison discuss Joann's first experience choosing and entering blooms for our local dahlia soceity parlor show. 

Joann and Allison briefly discuss the changes in the dahlia world pertaining to hybridizer compensation and also talk about Allison going to the Kitsap County Dahlia Society show. 

Joann and Allison discuss how to get connected and started with how to judge dahlias through the Northwest Federation of Dahlia Growers. 

Joann and Allison discuss different important tasks we do in our gardens during the month of July. 

Follow along as we continue our discussion with Cory Wynne of Wyn's Dahlias. During this episode Cory elaborate on how her and Walt grew and hybridized their introductions. 

During this interview with hybridizer Cory Wynne, we discuss how she began her journey as a dahlia grower. Cory shares her methods of growing dahlias and equally important her relationships within the dahlia community. 

Joann and Allison introduce Dig on Dahlias.