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It’s the first year of our exciting new Novice Hybridizer Program! We designed this program to help growers overcome the biggest barriers to sharing their dahlia creations with the world, and we are so pleased to introduce to you today the 8 dahlias beginning their journey here at Triple Wren.

Each of these new hybrids started just like all the other dahlias we love – as a seedling in a hopeful gardener’s dahlia patch. We have dahlias in this year’s class that began their lives in British Columbia, Michigan, New York, and Washington state, and now in their third (or later) season, we are planting their tubers here at the farm.

We hope you’ll follow along on their adventure as this season we’ll be growing the following 8 new hybrids:
Hybridizer: Alexandra Finch Location: Dexter, Michigan Working name of dahlia: S2
From Hybridizer: Alexandra Finch
Hybridizer: Courtney Kalian Location: Brush Prairie, Washington Working name of dahlia: Spark
From Hybridizer: Courtney Kalian
Hybridizer: Dawn Hubbell Location: Kingston, New York Working name of dahlia: Whistling Bee's Dawn's Early Light
From Hybridizer: Dawn Hubbell
Hybridizer: Jessica Dell Location: Poughkeepsie, New York Working name of dahlia: PK Folly or Bloodshot
From Hybridizer: Jessica Dell
Hybridizer: Lee Pusch Location: Maple Ridge, British Columbia Working name of dahlia: 22-005
From Hybridizer: Lee Pusch
Hybridizer: Rebecca Curtis Location: Grand Ledge, Michigan Working name of dahlia: 22-17
From Hybridizer: Rebecca Curtis
Hybridizer: Rebecca Curtis Location: Grand Ledge, Michigan Working name of dahlia: 22-19
From Hybridizer: Rebecca Curtis
Hybridizer: Rebecca Curtis Location: Grand Ledge, Michigan Working name of dahlia: 22-13
From Hybridizer: Rebecca Curtis

As part of our Novice Hybridizer Program, our plan is to grow and evaluate these dahlias this summer, ask other local dahlia experts to also weigh in on them, and to give loads of feedback to the hybridizers at the end of the summer. Keep an eye on our social media and email newsletters this summer to see how they’re growing and see if you can spot them in some beautiful farm arrangements this summer!

Learn to Hybridize Dahlias

Are you growing any dahlia seeds of your own this year? Anyone who grows dahlias can save dahlia seeds, but experienced growers tend to develop their unique methods for saving and collecting dahlia seeds. Their specific methods yield the fantastic results we see in their hybrids over and over. 

 

If you’d like to learn more about hybridizing your own dahlia varieties, we have created a Hybridizer Hub over in The Garden. We have topics that include:

    • How to decide whether a seedling is a “keeper” or not
    • Genetic traits to consider
    • Timeline for seedling observation
    • What to record about your observations
    • Bees vs. Intentional Pollination
    • Seed Collecting
    • How to Seek Outside Validation for Your Seedling
    • and more!

We are adding valuable information to the Hybridizer Hub on a regular basis! If you’re interested in learning more about hybridizing dahlias, consider joining The Garden today!

At Triple Wren, we don’t just support novice hybridizers. Our by-invitation Legacy Dahlia Collection, which began in 2019 with dahlia hybridizer Paul Bloomquist, is growing each year to include more hybridizers. 

Through this program we support experienced dahlia hybridizers by

 

    • growing out thousands of our Legacy Hybridizers’ creations,
    • organizing, marketing, selling, and shipping them for the hybridizers,
    • and paying them a royalty on every plant and tuber we sell.

 

We free up our Legacy Hybridizers from mass production and distribution responsibilities so that they can focus on creating. 

 

We’ve been busy this winter checking in with our hybridizers about their new creations, and are exciting to grow even more of their varieties at the farm in 2024. Once again this season, over half of our almost 800 named varieties will be from our Legacy Collection!