Sad News

Megan Badger, The Utah Dahlia Society's hardest worker lost her Mother, Joan Spandre this past Saturday, December 18.   There will be a visitation at Cottonwood Mortuary on Tuesday, December 21st from 6:00 until 8:00.  A graveside service will be held Wednesday at 2:00 at the Salt Lake Cemetery.


We all send Megan and her family our most sincere condolences.  Our hearts go out to you at this difficult time.

How to Store Dahlia Tubers by Ryan Williams

Ryan Williams, our member from Logan was kind enough to type out his method for storing his dahlia tubers.  The plastic wrap method is in Mark's book, The Dahlia Diary.  Let Megan know if you need a copy.

Ryan and Julie William's Method 

of

 Storing Tubers

Once they are dug, washed, and devided I store them in zip-lock bags.  I use the gallon size so I don't have to use so many but any size will do.  I poke several holes in the bag so they can breathe.  I do it with a board that has lots of nails sticking out so I can poke all the holes at once but a pencil or anything else works fine.  Some people dust them with sulfer or dip them in a solution of captan which is a good precaution but I usually don't.  Hopefully that doesn't backfire on me someday.  As I seperate the clumps I can usually put one clump per gallon bag.  Some varieties won't fit in one.  If I only have one plant of a paticular variety I split it up into two bags just as a precaution.  If one bag goes bad I don't lose the whole variety.  I then put in some vermiculite, just enough to cover the tubers.  Maybe two cups (I am not sure exactly I just put in what looks good to me.)  Then I put the bags into a fridge that is set at 40 degrees.  Any cool dark place will work fine.  I check them several times during the winter to make sure they are happy.  Every once in a while I will see some mold show up in a bag of tubers.  If I see mold I take the tubers out and make sure they are not damaged.  If they are I toss them and spray the bag with an anti-fungal.  Maybe if you dust them in sulfer first you won't even have to worry.  I don't ever have much of a problem.  It may show up in a bag or two but that is usually the extent of it.
    
          

Second Annual Dahlia Show

Megan Badger with her Best of Show flower

 "Granny Norman"

     The Utah Dahlia Society's Second Annual Dahlia Exhibition Show exceeded our dreams for a successful show.  We had well over 100 entries and attendees coming from miles away to enjoy the best of the best dahlias grown in our area.  The excitement was contagious as we welcomed 6 new members to our growing Dahlia Society.

     The following is a complete list of winners in each category:

AA Formal Decorative
1. Clyde's Choice                Megan Badger
2. Clyde's Choice                Steve LeCheminant

AA Informal Decorative
1. Penhill Watermelon         Ryan and Julie Williams
2. Maki                              Karen Crook
3. Zorro                             Paula Daniels

AA Semi Cactus
2. Grand Finale                   Larry Stevens
3. Penhill Andres Memory   Mark Hurst

A Informal Decorative
1. Spartacus                        Dee Davis
2. Lovely Lana                    Karen Crook
3. Snowbound                     Megan Badger

A Cactus
2. Hy Mom                          Dee Davis

A Lacinated
2. Show 'n Tell                     Steve Le Cheminant

A Three Blooms
2. Vassio Meggos                  Dee Davis
3. Lovely Lana                      Karen Crook

B Formal Decorative
1. Sterling Silver                    Mark Hurst
2. Castle Drive                       UDS
3. Kiara Pompadeur                Dee Davis

B Informal Decorative
1. American Beauty                Paula Davis
2. Onabrook Angel                 UDS
3. Cafe' Au'Lait                      UDS

B Semi Cactus
1. Granny Norman                  Megan Badger
2. Hamari Accord                   Stephen LeCheminant
3. Sea Helado                         Dee Davis

B Cactus
1. Alfred Grill                         Ryan and Julie Williams

B Lacinated
1. Colwood Scheri                    Elaine Davis
2. Colwood Scheri                     UDS
3. Citron DeCap                        Dee Davis

B Three Blooms
1. American Beauty                   Paula Daniels

BB Formal Decorative
1. Formby Alpine                      Steve LeCheminant
2. Honey Dew                           Ryan and Julie Williams
3. Boogie Nights                        Maxine Clark

BB Informal Decorative
1. Who Dun It                            UDS
2. Dark Magic                            Karen Crook
3.  Bahama Mama                       Karen Crook

BB Semi Cactus
1. Embrace                                 Ryan and Julie Williams
2. Camano Cloud                        Ryan and Julie Williams
3. Loverboy                                Mark Hurst

BB Cactus  
1. Red Devil                               Ryan and Julie Williams

BB Lacinated
1. Urchin                                    Ryan and Julie Williams

BB Three Blooms
2. Bristol Fleck                            Karen Crook

M Formal Decorative
1. Brian's Dream                          Megan Badger
2. Shadow Cat                             UDS
3. Amorus                                   Ryan and Julie Williams

M Informal Decorative
3. Brushstrokes                             Mark Hurst

M Cactus
1. Western Spanish Dancer            Stephen LeCheminant
2. White Lightning                        UDS
3. Checkers                                   Dee Davis

Miniature Ball
1. Woodland Dufus                        Karen Crook

Ball
1. Cornel                                       Ryan and Julie Williams
2. Mary Jomanda                           Megan Badger
3. Brookside Snowball                   Maxine Clark

Pompon
2. Glenplace                                   Mark Hurst

Waterlily
1.  Cameo                                      Dee Davis
2.  Bliss                                         Steve Anderson

Steller
3. Lorona Dawn                             Megan Badger

Anemone
1. Dad's Favorite                             Megan Badger
2. Dad's Favorite                             UDS

Collarette
1. Pooh                                           Mark Hurst
2. Pooh                                           Paula Daniels

Club Flower (Brookside Snowball)
1.                                                    Mark Hurst
2.                                                    Joan Creer
3.                                                    Paula Daniels

Small Arrangement
1.  Sea Foam                                   Ryan and Julie Williams
2.  Orange Crush                             Megan Badger
3.  Pretty in Pink                              Sue Hurst

Large Arrangement
1.  My Favorites                              Karen Crook

GRAND PRIZE WINNERS

BEST AA              Penhill Watermelon       Ryan and Julie Williams
BEST A                 Spartacus                      Dee Davis
BEST B                  Granny Norman            Megan Badger
BEST BB                Formby Alpine             Stephen LeCheminant
BEST M                 Brian's Dream               Megan Badger
BEST BALL           Woodland Dufus           Karen Crook
BEST EXOTIC        Dad's Favorite               Megan Badger
BEST 3 BLOOM    Western Spanish Dancer  Dee Davis
BEST ARRANGEMENT   My Favorites        Karen Crook
BEST CLUB           Brookside Snowball        Mark Hurst

BEST IN SHOW

MEGAN BADGER

FOR

GRANNY NORMAN

PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD
was a tie between
Granny Norman                         Megan Badger
Maki                                          Karen Crook

Congratulations to all our winners and thanks to everyone for participating.

Many thanks to Spencer Mortenson and Mark Hurst for donating flowers to sell for our fund raiser.  A big THANK YOU to Megan Badger for all she does, Nick Spencer for his efforts as Show Chairman and all the volunteers that made the show possible.

2010 Exhibition Show

Photo Contest

Bring your 5X7 photos of your dahlias for our competition to be included in our
2011 Utah Dahlia Society Calendar.
 Everyone visiting our show will be invited to vote.  The 13 photos with the most votes will be in the calendar.  The photo with the most votes will be featured on the cover.
Photo Entry Requirements:  5X7 Prints with the name of the Dahlia featured and the name of the photographer.
 The Utah Dahlia Society will have the right to use the winning photos on the calendar and for marketing purposes.

August Meeting- Preview of our September Show

Many thanks to Nick Spencer for his presentation on preparing our dahlias to show.  We appreciated Mike and Paula Daniels for sharing their beautiful home and garden with us.  And as always, a big thank you to Megan Badger for her efforts to make every meeting a pleasure.

Our August meeting held on the 18th was met with another rain storm.  It didn't stop us from having a great time.

If the flowers that were at this meeting are any indication of our upcoming show it should be SPECTACULAR!
Watch for details coming soon.

August Meeting

Karen's first  dahlia bouquet from her new lasagna garden.

Our August meeting
will be held
 Wednesday, August 18th 
at the home of
Mike and Paula Daniels
1960 East Cresthill Drive (4625 South)
7:00 pm

Nick Spencer is going to teach us to present our flowers for showing or simply for our own enjoyment.
Please come, bring your flowers to arrange and enjoy a piece of pie!

Rain or Shine Picnic

June 16th was wet but it didn't dampen the spirits of our Utah Dahlia Society Members. 

 We came out to enjoy hamburgers, hot dogs and yummy salads with homemade ice cream and cookies for dessert.

Our youngest and cutest member.

Mark Hurst unveils our Utah Dahlia Society Demonstration Garden Sign. 

 Despite the heavy rainfall and colder temperatures most of the 64 dahlias planted showed up for the event!

Thanks to Mark we had a warm and lovely place to have our picnic out of the rain.  We also kicked off our photo competition for our members to take pictures of their dahlias and submit them for our 2011 Utah Dahlia Society Calendar.

Our next meeting will be in August.  Check your e-mails or this site for information.

Rained Out

We were rained out yesterday for our scheduled dahlia tuber sale for this year.
Don't worry....you can still get tubers from us by leaving a message here
or coming to the Red Butte Garden plant sale next Saturday, May 8th.

TUBER PARTY AND SALE 2010

Spring means Dahlia Tuber Sales to members of the

American Dahlia Society.

The Utah Chapter

joined in the fun with our

second annual Tuber Sale

hosted by

Millcreek Gardens.

Our President, Mark Hurst offered these lovely cuttings and seedlings.

We kicked off our Tuber Sale with a tuber party for members. It was a chance to have some fun, bag our tubers and get first pick of the many tubers donated for sale.

Cutting tubers......

the next step was to write the names on the tubers and then off to the next station......

to be bagged in vermiculite with a label including a picture and classification on the bag.

Don't forget to punch the air hole!

We all worked up an appetite and enjoyed a pizza buffet with all the trimmings.

A two hour drive each way to help out and bring tubers by our Logan members was much appreciated.

Mark Hurst and daughter Clea.

Mark does a book signing for his Dahlia Diary surrounded by

Eva Jensen, Megan Badger and Karen Crook.

Our 2010 Tuber Sale on April 24th was greeted by perfect weather and interest from new and more experienced growers alike.

Many thanks once again to Millcreek Gardens for hosting our sale and to the many members and growers that donated tubers.

We have some great tubers left and will be back to

Millcreek Gardens

again next

Saturday, May 1st at 10:00.

Spring 2010

The calendar tells us it is time to wake up from our long winter's rest and start to make our dreams of a beautiful dahlia garden a reality.

Just don't look out the window. If you do, don't let the snow keep you from getting your tubers out of storage so they will be ready for our annual Utah Dahlia Society dahlia sale on April 24th and and May 1st.

Millcreek Gardens will be our generous host again this year.

Be sure to attend our meeting on Wednesday, April 21st at the Garden Center. We will have the bags and vermiculite to bag and label your tuber donations for the sale. It will also be a members only chance at some of the tubers you have had your eye on. Watch for an e-mail with more details and a request for your donation inventory so we can get the labels made ahead of time.

In other news Mark Hurst, Eva Jensen and Megan Badger have been busy getting the Utah Dahlia Society's "Dahlia Diary" ready. It is a step by step guide to growing dahlias for the Utah grower. Be sure to get your copy at the tuber sale. The dahlia pictured above will be featured on the cover.

Remember to Save the Dates:

April 21st

April 24th

May 1st