Dahlias for the Win

Paul Wright and Liz Andrews cultivate the ultimate fall flower in Fairview. Photo by Tim Robison
Paul Wright and Liz Andrews cultivate the ultimate fall flower in Fairview. Photo by Tim Robison

After a long, hot day in August, Paul Wright walks to the top of the hill near his home in Fairview. During a late summer sundown, he gazes with amazement over a field of dahlias — a spread of thousands he owns and nurtures with Elizabeth Andrews.

When the pale blossoms of spring have passed and the bolder blooms of summer are gone, everything returns to a mellowed green. Except the dahlia. Early fall is when they get to make their many-colored statement — but their day in the sun doesn’t come easily. Dahlias can be hard to grow: dodgy mountain frost has to be avoided during spring planting. Later on, too much wind or rain can break the stems.

Winter storage of roots can be difficult, too. “There have been trials and tribulations,” admits Wright. “We read everything on how to harvest, clean, and store the [roots], and nothing seemed to work well for us. One day we finally decided to harvest them out of the ground, leave the dirt around them and store them in a cool, dry place. We basically left them alone in their most natural state, and it worked for us.”

Carolina Home + Garden dug deep for more knowledge from both growers.

Why dahlias?
Paul: Liz and I are cousins through marriage and happen to live on the same piece of family property. About four years ago, our first year growing dahlias, we only grew a few she had picked up at a big-box store. Later that summer, we went to the Carolinas Dahlia Society annual show, and that’s where I really got hooked. The next year, I tilled and created beds in our hayfields and we grew about 200-250 plants.

Liz has been a floral designer for several years, and I am a landscaper. We had spoken before about how she and her friends in floral design loved to use dahlias but were unable to get many of their favorite ones because they didn’t have a local source. They don’t survive shipping long distances. So we decided to try to grow even more, ones we specifically knew she and her colleagues could use in arrangements.

We also have the perfect “arrangement” — I have the experience in farming and landscaping, and she has the floral-designing background and connections.

How many are there?
Paul: We have over 1,000 dahlias and at least 200-250 plants of all different varieties, in all sizes and colors. [Cultivars range from delicate “pom-pom” varieties to “dinner plates” up to a foot wide.]

What don’t most people know about dahlias?
Paul: Even though they’re often called bulbs, the roots of dahlias are actually tubers [the same type of plant as potatoes and yams]. I also think they have interesting names, like “French Doll,” “Crichton Honey,” “A La Mode,” and “Daddy’s Girlie.”

Liz: When you cut a dahlia to arrange them in a vase, they like very hot water, not quite boiling. This hot-water treatment conditions the stems so the blooms will last about five days.

What are your favorite types?
Paul: The Spartacus dinner plate — a large, dark-red bloom with sturdy stems. They take their time to open and are very striking.

Liz: I like the smaller ones. Anywhere from the miniatures to the medium-sized ones, because they work better in an arrangement. You can be more creative with them and make beautiful arrangements using many smaller dahlias of different varieties and an array of colors, along with some foliage. You place a dinner-plate dahlia in a vase and that’s about all you can have.
Growing dahlias can be a very competitive endeavor …

Paul: Absolutely! Enough to where I can’t compete. There are people I meet at competitions who have been growing dahlias for decades. They have so much knowledge it blows me away, like details about soil that only experience can bring. I enjoy being a member of the Carolinas Dahlia Society just for the connections and gaining knowledge to grow better dahlias.

Liz: So far we have been met with many positive reviews and we’re still working hard to become a local source of specialty cut flowers, with the focus on dahlias as one of our main crops.

The dahlia garden of Paul Wright and Liz Andrews is located in Fairview. E-mail Paul at paulwright206@gmail.com and Liz at elizabethandrewsflowers@gmail.com. Check out their upcoming website at www.elizabethandrewsflowers.com.

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