Crowd Pleasers

Camano Rascal

Don’s Dahlias grows 300 varieties of exhibition dahlias that we sell at farmers’ markets. A few times a season I compete in Dahlia shows and enter blooms for competition with other growers in the Mid-Atlantic region. These are all the same blooms that we bring to Leesburg Farmers’ Market every Saturday morning throughout the season.

With judging for the shows being on Saturdays, the competing blooms are selected the previous Monday for special attention. Umbrellas go up to protect the blooms from the sun and rain, and wooden dowels are clipped to the stems to straighten them and make the bloom as close to perfect as possible. Cutting is done on Friday morning, and the blooms are immediately placed in a holding and transport solution to preserve the optimum condition of the flower. We use a cooler that holds the blooms at 39 degrees for the conditioning period. The dahlias are staged with wooden shims in special containers for showing and then transported carefully to the show for judging and exhibition.

On September 25th, I took 35 entries to the 2009 National Capitol Dahlia Society Show at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD. One entry of Camano Rascal — the red and white cactus dahlia pictured here — won the People’s Choice award as the most popular flower of the show.

Yes, We Do Weddings!

Dahlias are an inspired choice for boutonnieres. (Designs by Holly Heider Chapple Flowers, LTD)

Dahlias are usually in bloom from July to October in northern Virginia, making them an excellent option for summer and fall wedding flowers.  Contact us to learn more, and take a look at some of the lovely wedding arrangements that have featured Don’s Dahlias.

To market, to market we go (July 18)

We’ll be at the Leesburg, Va, Farmers’ Market tomorrow from 8 am to noon for our first Saturday of the summer season.  Come take your pick of dahlia bouquets; we’re bringing 14 buckets of beautiful blooms!

Join Us May 2 at the Leesburg Farmers’ Market

We’ll be at the Leesburg, Va, Farmers’ Market, Saturday, May 2, from 8 am to noon, with lots of dahlia tubers for sale.  Come see us and learn how to grow your own beautiful blooms!

Earth Day at Broadlands April 26

We’ll be at the Earth Day Celebration at Broadlands this coming Sunday, April 26, from 11 am to 3 pm.  We’ll have all kinds of dahlia tubers for sale—come and see us!

Nestled all snug in their vermiculite

The dahlias have gone to bed for the winter, but we’re already thinking of next year’s garden and what we’ll be bringing to market.  A new addition for 2009: peonies!  Please stay tuned for more developments on the flower front.

Welcome!

The Don in Don's Dahlia's, Etc.

I’m a dahlia grower, originally from Montana, where the plants thrive, but I’ve made my home for the past 40+ years outside Washington, DC, an area significantly more challenging for cultivation (but just as rewarding).  With the help of my wife, Rhonda, I grow hundreds of varieties of dahlias each year, and as the blooms start coming in, we head to the Leesburg, Virginia, Farmer’s Market, where we sell single stems and bouquets.  On our new site, you can learn more about me, see where we’ll be with our blooms, get contact information, or subscribe to our feed to keep up to date with posts.