The Dahlia Season that Almost Wasn't

November 07, 2023

As you know, dahlias are a cornerstone of our flower farm. This year has been a challenging one, and it’s time to shed light on what really happened behind the scenes with this crop. 

The blooms you saw this year were nurtured in our protective tunnels, but our field crop was a total loss taken by excessive rain and flooding. The field crop accounts for over 75% of total dahlia production. So, if you're were wondering why you haven't seen armloads of freshly harvested dahlias on our feed or blog or your favorite variety this season, it’s not for lack of effort or care but rather the unforgiving, unpredictable hand of Mother Nature: we simply didn’t have them.

Farming teaches us humility and resilience, and this year has been no exception. It’s been a season of pivoting, finding the silver linings, and, as the saying goes, throwing hail marys. We may not had the dahlia buffet you’ve come to expect, but we still executed incredible designs for special events and pushed our skills to another level. This year’s dahlia tuber harvest is more precious than ever.

All this to say we ARE STILL having our annual tuber sale. We need to. It was a hard hit and we will find ways to rebuild our stock throughout the winter. The dahlia plants in the tunnels were strategically planted incase of a disaster like this, so the variety options will still be extensive, but the quantities will be much less than previous years. It will be important to get to the sale on time! 

Here’s a peak at some of the new introductions. We trialed early 40 new varieties, but less than 25% made the cut to keep in our collection. 

I’m learning loss is nothing more than a muscle. Work it more and you’ll learn how to navigate it. Seek the opportunity in the loss and there lies the abundance. 

Mark your calendars: Dahlia Tuber Sale on Sunday, November 12th @ 10 AM EST. We're excited to continue offering immediate nationwide shipping/pick up, a feature everyone appreciated last year. For those who prefer, a spring shipping option will be available, but please note, spring pick-ups won’t be an option

ROOTED FLOWERS DAHLIA COLLECTION

**NOTE. We are NOT selling anything from this field. It was not harvestable. The tuber stock will be from our tunnel grown dahlias which were extremely happy & healthy.

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