Swan Island Dahlia Festival...

It's a rare occurance, but recently my mother asked me to take a day off to spend with her.  It's really rare! She believes in being a conscientious employee and I applaud that.  However, it also makes me take notice when she actually asks me for a day.  So, I gladly took August 25th off and went with her, and Dad, to the Swan Island Dahlia Festival.

My mother has a huge dahlia garden (probably 30' x 30') and many of those came from Swan Island Dahlias (Which is not, incidentally, on Swan Island any more but in Canby).  If you don't know, dahlias can be a lot of work.  The tubers should be dug up each winter, marked, and stored correctly to last through the winter.  Storing them correctly is still a work in progress and Mom loses several tubers a year because they rot.  Then in the spring or summer they have to be divided, planted, and if necessary, support stakes should be added.  We've occasionally teased mom about her stake garden. It's not uncommon for mom to have plants that reach 6-8 feet tall.  She is going to try pruning them this year to see if that helps keep them a little smaller and requiring less support.  Dahlias come in many varieties.  Most people are familiar with the multi-layered petal "Formal Decorative" or "Informal Decorative" varieties:

but the Collarette variety is the most natural form of the the flower- if you were to plant dahlia seeds, 90% or more would come up as collarettes.

I find myself most often attracted to the Collarette, Water Lilly,and, Semi cactus varieties.  Dahlia blooms can also be as big as 12 inches (Plate size) or as small as 1.5 inches.  I like the blooms in the 2-6 inch varieties (collarette, minature, and BB size blooms).

We learn something new about dahlias every year and Swan Island is a good supporter for growers. It's also a beautiful place to be when the dahlias are in bloom and the 25th of August was part of the Dahlia Festival on the farm. There are rows upon rows of dahlias, each variety in long rows side by side.


They also have the experimental garden open so that buyers can see what might be coming up next year and an inside display of cut (and labeled) flowers.

I love dahlias but they require soil and  a lot of work and so I haven't planted any except a few in pots this year. They can also be a little spendy.  The tubers run from $4.95 each to $24.95 each (new varieties) depending upon demand and availablity.  However I may have lost my mind and purchased a lot of tubers that I will have to make a place for next year (see behind the cut or below).  I'm thinking I'll intersperse them in the rose garden since it is in a sunny and unshaded location.  It's still going to take a lot of work because, there is still all that volcanic rock about 12 inches down and that will have to be removed anywhere that I intend to plant them.  Obviously, it's more cost effective to buy the cheaper tubers and wait for the more expensive ones to come down in price. Or to trade with family, which Mom and I will be doing.
( These are the ones I purchased )

You can see all of my pictures from that Monday in this album (No Facebook account required).  I have my work cut out for me but it will be worth it...won't it?