September 2026 Newsletter

by Deborah Dietz

See the full original newsletter pdf with photos here: September 2026 Newsletter

NEXT MEETING:

Tuesday September 8 at 7:30 PM at 9th and Lincoln.  Parking available at 10th and Lincoln.  

Program: NOVICE ONLY MINI SHOW!!!  Erik has donated $25 for the Best Novice Bloom in addition to our usual munificent payouts.  You are allowed to enter 2 (different) (no more!) specimens in each of the 20 basic categories (AA, Ball, Stellar etc.) and one each x3 and x5.  Let your late season beauties strut their stuff!  Please come as early as 6:30 to set up so all exhibits will be in place by 7:30 when our meeting begins.  

Who will bring enticing comestibles to reward our hearty group?

LAST MOMENT SHOW DETAILS

Erik shared slides of our Tuesday morning’s historic reenactment on the steps of City Hall.  Marisa confirmed and recruited further volunteers for our show.  Deborah and Sarah filled out an entry form on the big screen so everyone knew the difference between Section and Class.  Our dynamic duo pointed out further opportunities to compete in the sponsored classes like Steve’s Best Waterlily or Paula’s Best Orange Cactus (C, IC, SC).  Erik  played the Chanel 7 segment which we thought would be @30 seconds on the news one night before the show; instead it displayed a full 5 minutes of dahlia lore and photos at least twice a day up to and through our show!  

Pat H brought a whole box full of her containers WITH PIN FROGS to give away to members who promised to show.  Patricia also offered up a free plastic greenhouse cover and metal frame to some lucky claimer.  So Very Generous!

GOODIES FOR GOOD DAHLIANIERS

Thanks to Francis for her festive popcorn.  Alex and Allison baked peanut butter cookies and Kathy and Ken brought us chocolate chip chunky cookies.  Mmmm!  Anita baked us zucchini bread with lemon glaze from her home grown zucchinis and lemons.  Jen T’s lemon pound cake disappeared fast.  Christopher Elbow Chocolate bits from Steve delighted many.  Patricia, toffee candies?  Sooooo good!  Thank you to all who support our hungry community and make us happy throughout our DSC meetings.

HISTORIC PHOTO REENACTMENT

We shared forty-five minutes of preparation for 10 seconds of several cameras clicking for history.  Many DSC members assembled on the steps of City Hall in alignment with designs on General Jenna’s 1926 photograph of then mayor Rolf and then president of the Dahlia Society of California.  As brides swept in and out of the courthouse, Tim unveiled  4 spectacular bouquets from Sisterhood Gardens.  Camera wielders from the New York Times, from Channel 7, from the political beat and from DSC members stood poised.  Mayor Lurie emerged.  He shook hands.  He accepted dahlias.  A great shout went up with applause.  “See you in a hundred  years,” called out Antoinette.

MONTEREY  DINE AROUND

Report from Allison and Alex Krivoruchko

Garden No.1- Beeline Blooms,  Karla DeLong and London Families-  located at the top of the mountain raised from the burn scar of CZU Lightning Complex Fire.  Rows of dahlias mixed with beds  of cutting flowers and pollinators. 

Garden No. 2- Located in Scotts Valley.  Paula and Matt Twisselman had a manicured dahlia patch surrounded by an established  landscaped garden.

Garden No 3 -Rebecca  Rockelman had a countryside garden in Soquel.  An oasis of dahlias mixed with pollinators, and dahlias planted surrounding an outdoor dining room with a chandelier and lights.  Perfect blooms and  stunning colors- no tags or names of blooms marked.  Many pieces of stained glass art, tiled mosaics added ambiance to the beauty of dahlias.

Garden 4 - Iris and Dave Wallace- nestled in Santa Cruz, a magnificent view of dahlias planted in organized rows with perfection and love.  Dahlias planted by form, color and size of bloom.  Iris uses alfalfa as a ground cover around the base of dahlias adding rice straw on top of alfalfa.

Observations:

Dahlias planted in mounded rows,  rice straw is placed in  between rows and around base of dahlias in two gardens.

All gardens had stripped the leaves off of stems of the dahlias by at least 12 inches .

All 4 gardens watered with an organized water system.

There was such a fun level of energy Saturday with so many young dahlia growers.  

OUTSIDE LANDS SEES DAHLIAS

DSC shared a presence at the legendary event.  We thank the Gardens of Golden Gate Park  for including the Dahlia Society  of California at their information table, allowing us to reach out to thousands of Music Lovers   www.gggp.org   Lou P donated dahlias; our golden Jenna educated and entertained  at a dahlia bedecked table.

We look forward to again donating our bouquets  of dahlias to the Flower Piano event Sept 10-20 at the Botanical Garden in GG Park. 

JUDGING SCHOOL

Here are my (Alex Krivoruchko) impressions of the Judging School held  on July 25 in San Leandro.  This is my second judging school.  As a dahlia enthusiast and perspective candidate judge, I found this school was both very informative and fun. The speakers (e.g. Curtis Maxwell, Lou Paradise) were well qualified to present the judging criteria (i.e. form, color, substance, stem, foliage, bloom position, etc). Their power point slides were excellent and Lou’s discussion of Color was highly detailed.  The most important part of the school  was the “hands-on” segment. It was here where we broke up in 5 groups and got to judge various  dahlias ourselves under the guidance of two senior  judges (Kristine Albrecht & Iris Wallace). The venue (San Leandro Senior  Community Center) was superb (i.e. spacious, great visuals).

Lastly the food was delicious and copious. Plenty of coffee to keep you alert!

DAHLIA CALENDER

SLDC Show
Sept 5-6
FOY: JJ’s Eliot, Venus BB NXO

DSC Anniversary Picnic
Sunday, Sept. 13         
Dahlia Dell

Sierra Nevada Show
Sept. 19          
703-228-9860 

Show Schedules for San Leandro and Reno can be found on their websites

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT A DAHLIA SHOW IN SF?

WOW! Our publicity mavens worked overtime!   

Tim hid microphones in real dahlias, interviewed many bloomerati and posted the reels on Instagram.  

As a result, we exceeded wild projections for attendance! Unbelievable.  We guesstimate 10,000—12,000  people checked out our show!  Zowie. 

100th ANNIVERSARY DELL CELEBRATORY PICNIC

We are all invited to a wonderful day at the Dahlia Dell in Golden Gate Park.  From 10—noon we will have politicos, speeches and free Walk n Talk tours.  At noon we will have an exclusive potluck open to DSC members ONLY.  Bring something to share and wear your name tag if you have one.  Bring layers because the Dahlia Dell temperatures can surprise you. In the past, some people have brought Scrabble or Yahtzee games. Your children are welcome. 

FRIDAY FLORIBUNDA! EXTRAVAGANZA SET UP

Jenn brought her Gang of BIG MEN (husband, son, Coleman, Nick  and pals) who could twirl tables on their fingertips but instead set up and positioned 100 in a thrice.  Wow!  Tablecloths were spread, Lou’s stanchions with Novice, Open, and Amateur designated room-long lanes.  Hundreds of ADS numbers were laid out. By 6:00 pm the Galleria began filling with exhibitors, dahlias and staging commenced.   Phil and  Marilyn generously invited Jenna and Erik to pick their garden clean to provide dahlias for FOUR foto op stops!  Tim deftly created a cozy corner near the bathrooms to look like a 1926 Victorian parlor complete with cool lamps, curtains and tea set!  Marisa, what perfect  little bitty bites from Le Mediterranee for hungry  exhibitors!   Paula brought mood-lifting chocolates.  Anita and Levie staged until 2 am with so many entries!  Likewise Lou, again putting together his amazing  blooms where the Court of Honor would appear the next day, patiently helped fill out new dahlia forms and  matched their petals to color chips at midnight or even later.  What  a stir Chris caused as he arrived in a forest of KA’s white AA’s!  All night long people arrived.  Chris and John shared their fat stem stubs with fellow competitors to use as crutches in containers.  As soon as space to set up opened up, someone new arrived to take it over.  So many new exhibitors!  Steve and Jenn T. helped Team Dietz, filling out exhibitor cards and running them to spots around the room.  Many people achieved their 10,000 steps Friday night!

WHAT A SHOW!!  

Before the doors opened to the  public, so many people were already in place.  The buzz began to build.   Maggie and Don, as they  have for  several years, perched at the Membership Table by People’s Choice.  Rachael Perl mounted a mini art show of her hyper realistic dahlia paintings.  The orchid growers manned their booth.  Little did Kauna know that she was about to take over 200 strips of pix in her self-made Photo Booth.  Julia, Jenna and Mini set up the art table with crayons, pencils, stems, leaves and dahlia petals galore.  Adults AND kids loved experimenting with real dahlia pieces as well as coloring in our 100th anniversary logo.   Anita and Jenn T provided fresh WARM BAGELS with schmear and coffee behind the scenes.  People were so excited.

SATURDAY: WOW!  JUDGES

 Five teams of judges evaluated Open, Amateur, Novice, x1 x3 x5.  What a marathon!  Many teams did not finish until after lunch.  Early teams re-voluneered themselves to help the slower teams.  So very generous!  Deborah and Chris Dix judged seedling bench, declaring Kristine Albrecht’s new  Pumping White over 90 points!  Tinnee and Guy judged the entire circumference of our show:  all  special classes, arrangements, Juniors, Oddities AND the massive photo wall.  Marathon dedication!  Whew! We  definitely need more judges; however, we are sooooo grateful for the excellent people who served on Saturday morning, many of them exhausted from staging alllll night.   Meanwhile  computer whiz,  Kristie, deployed her 3 cell phone clerks, her 2 cell phone documentarists and her singular Julie who ran communication and check ups between the tables and Computer Central.  Kristi’s program gave us printouts of the winners, the prizes, the categories, all slice and dice-able within seconds of the last data point entered.  Such 21st century tech!  After lunch, Lou assembled a blue ribbon Court of Honor team to winnow down the winners to our ultimate Best of Show, Iris’s Vamp Bride.  

MERCH ROW

New this year, an aisle of vendors set up outside in the courtyard. Lisa, Claire, Shonica, Nan, Kyla, and Amanda steadfastly answered questions about DSC T-Shirts, mugs, aprons, and water  bottles.  Melissa helped out when she wasn’t on MLK directing special parking. Cristina, fresh from the East Coast, showed a sample of her book  DAHLIA.  Those who donated to her Kickstarter Project could see what they will soon be receiving and others could order for the future.  Web Master Mini displayed her creative side, selling earrings made from dahlia petals!  Graphic designer, Nicole, sold cards and sketches.  Lastly, the artist known as Misstencil stunned with a giant cut out of orange dahlias, and cute humming birds.  The public really seemed to like this, so maybe we will have more artists and merchandise next year.  

BEST OF THE BEST

Chris Dix’s Clearview Cameron succeeded as Best A and Best Large. Not to mention that he won with x3 gargantuan KA’s Khalessi TWICE!! both in Open and in Amateur.   Along with a slew of Micro wins, Jon and Francis propelled OJ’s Sunspot to Best Disc Bloom.  Triumphing as Best in Show was Iris’s exquisite  blood red Vamp Bride, MFD helping her capture Open Sweepstakes. Iris’s fluffbunctious Maki stunned as Largest Dahlia in the World at 13 3/4”!    Toiling past 2 am staging excellent blooms, Anita secured Best Open Tripple with Kelsey Radiance and amalgamated Novice Sweepstakes.  Lou, too, staged until the wee hours and compiled Amateur Sweepstakes and still had time to mount an 11 Porcelain display!  Lou’s Sandia Icicle reigned as Best 3 in our show.  Guy and Quamrum tied for Arrangement Sweeps with Guy’s modern Painted Ladies succeeding as Best Arrangement.  Allesandro killed; he won 3 of the 4 photo categories and there were a lot of pictures!  Congratulations to all 46 exhibitors who won  prize$ and illuminated our tables!  Show results can be read at 2026 DSC Exhibitor Reports

SUNDAY: PURE JOY

With all the heavy duties of judging forby, we could enjoy the pleasure of good company and really look at the show.  The 100 tables full of dahlias astounded newbies; oldies gasped at the throng of visitors.  “So many people, but all so happy and patient,” remarked one exhibitor.  “I thought I was just there to see pretty flowers, but I kept finding more little information signs and kept learning more about dahlias in spite of myself.”  While our show triumphed in the Galleria, Antoinette gave back-to-back tours at the Dell.  By 6:00 Sunday night visitors covered the entire guard fence around the tear drop!  Marisa counted 52 official volunteers, but SOOOO many other people contributed to a great GREAT show!  Our October newsletter will cover People’s Choice, Arrangements, Bouquets, Photo Ops, New  and Cool and Break Down including  Julia’s subsequent distribution of dahlias to various hospitals.  If you have some choice photos, please send them to me to be included in October’s edition.

OVER HILL AND DELL

Most of Tim’s seedlings in the upper left back row are blooming now.  Sue’s side features some new and exciting varieties as well as stunning Oldies like Tartan and Citron du Cap.  Check out Tinnee and Jerry’s  magnificent Thomas Edisons—Big B FD’s from 1929 with heart-stoppingly deep purple petals.   Their humongous Nick Srs have been pumping out giants for the last month.  Their ginormous Sir Alf Ramseys make passersby stop in their tracks.  Lou let Erik know that he had 5 new seedlings available for purchasing naming rights.  Congratulations to Paula for winning Eden Paula, a gorgeous orange B SC.  When the last show, San Leandro, is over, Lou will let his whole patch go to seed, literally.  But right now, it’s magnificent.  Check out the bushes with numbers beginning 25 or 26.  These might be looking for name$ in the future.  Antoinette organized all the pots in Deborah’s  section; all the venetian blinds, all the little sticks, and  all the tools.  She chucked out a lot of trash.  Whew!  Major endeavor.  Steve monitored the drip system, flaked the hose AND dug traveling compost holes.  Heroic.  Carol and Jennifer became master transplanters.  Kyla spruced up our messy Elvira each Saturday and then watered our extra gallon potted plants, for which she took  home a huge Pennhill Watermellon. Jennifer loved HH Dragon Fire and Hometown Hero, named for the brave Oregon fire fighters.  Deborah is delighted with her new Sandia Nocturnes, Joey P, and FINALLY! blooming Blomquist Candy Corns.  Come see all the glory at our Sept. 13 Picnic Celebration.

SUMPTUOUS SEPTEMBER

Deadhead, Disbud, Cut Back to Vigerous Growth

Have your dahlias gone crazy? I hope so!  They can feel the waning of the sun and want to fulfill their biological destiny by making seeds.  The more you deadhead, the more you thwart 

reproduction.  The more you disbud, the more energy you send into individual dahlia blooms.  Some people even double disbud at the end of September.  Usually our Octobers are shining and warm; thus there will be enough stimulation to send up new green shoots and branches IF you cut back aggressively to VIGOROUS new growth. You could have dahlias on your Halloween or even Thanksgiving table.

Fertilize

September is the last time to add granular balanced (all numbers the same) fertilizer to the base of your blooming plants.  This little boost will set them up for less sun and less heat.  In October they should begin making tubers in ernest.  

LABEL!  

Check your names against photos on line or against ADS descriptions in the Classification Book.  Several people were very disappointed when they tried to show beautiful dahlias at our Exhibition without names.  Names are important.  I write mine on venetian blind strips in pencil which do not fade or wipe off.  They survive a lot of rain.  They last until next season.

Rogue

I just dug another blooming dahlia up and tossed it.  90% of the blooms opened with the pollen showing.  BAD.  So I dug the whole thing up and tossed it in the garbage.  I filled the vacant hole with luscious compost for next year.  I gave warning to my Sandia Serenity who has been producing lovely waterlilies but on utterly ding dong funky stems that she could be next…..Do you have some miserable looking bushes?  Maybe it’s time to toss them?  Did you grow two or more of the same species?  If so, mark the better one.  Divide it in the spring and keep a couple tubers to regrow for yourself.  Share the other tubers at your Dahlia Society’s Tuber Sale.

Lonely Bouquet

I put out four little bouquets around Bernal Heights in August.  I learned a few lessons.  First:  consider how much traffic a certain  area gets.  The first bouquet I put on a bench on a sleepy street.  An hour later it was still in place as my walking partner and I returned.  We were so disappointed. Just as I was about to sadly recover it, a woman walked over to it, picked it up, read the little sign and…..SMILED!  My friend and I looked at each other silently with great glee and high fived.  What a great feeling!  The second bouquet I put in a large plastic cup.  It was a windy day.  Bonk!  All the water spilled out.  Martha Brothers gave us more water; we filled the bottom of the cup with pebbles from the sidewalk and tucked it into a little leeward corner.  Our third bouquet went into a HEAVY container we found on the street—no need for stones at the bottom.   We are learning.  Bernal gets a little boost of beauty once a week.  So fun!

Party!

September is a wonderful month to invite people to your garden and to go visit other people’s patches.  Bring dahlias to our Novice Only Mini Show.  Come to our potluck picnic September 13.  Set out some Lonely Bouquets to delight your neighbors.  A single dahlia makes a sumptuous bouquet all by itself.  

Yours in dirt,
Deborah

Photo Credits: Carrizosa, Dibner, Dietz, Gaensler, Kaiser, Kurhan, Shriver, Smith, Veis, Wong

Punctilious Proofreader: Steve

Webmaster: Mini