Today we’d like to highlight Beckie Curtis from Carpe Dahlia. Beckie is a member of Triple Wren’s Novice Hybridizer Program and has THREE new dahlias she’ll be introducing this year, with more in the pipeline for future years!
Beckie Curtis
Beckie is a passionate dahlia breeder whose journey started with a simple image of Kelgai Ann on Pinterest, which quickly sent her down the rabbit hole into the colorful world of dahlias. Now in her fifth year of breeding and growing, she’s all about creating unique, virus-resistant varieties of these stunning flowers. With a science-driven approach, Beckie uses a virus testing process to make sure her breeding patch is packed with only healthy, virus-free dahlias. She’s also working to eliminate viruses from older varieties, unlocking their potential so they can pass down virus-resistant traits to future generations.
What Beckie loves most about breeding dahlias is the chance to blend science with the pure joy of creating something beautiful that wouldn’t exist without all the work and care she puts in. From planning in the winter to that exciting moment when a new dahlia blooms for the first time, every step is an experiment in nature’s randomness and endless possibility. Her advice to anyone starting out in flower breeding? Embrace the unpredictability. Dahlias’ unique genetics offer so many surprises, making each new cross a fresh adventure.
Carpe Dahlia
Her farm, Carpe Dahlia, is a playful twist on Carpe Diem, but with a horticultural spin. While “Carpe Diem” is often interpreted as “Seize the Day,” in the original poem, it’s more like “Pluck the Day,” as in gathering the fruits or flowers around us—essentially, taking a moment to savor the beauty of nature. When people see her dahlias, Beckie hopes they feel that sense of wonder and connection to these delicate yet resilient flowers, which are truly a reflection of nature’s magic.
Carpe Dahlia Summer Blush
Carpe Dahlia Summer Blush’s blooms are distinctive – a perfect bridge between buttercream and mauve. Our team looked forward to seeing how it developed from week to week as its color flowed with day length in a very positive and winsome way. Its formal decorative form has occasional wrinkles, adding to its charm. Its performance was stellar in every way, and now that we’ve grown it, we can’t imagine the farm without her.
Carpe Dahlia Harvest
Carpe Dahlia Harvest is an exquisite formal decorative dahlia. Its coloring is unique–soft golden peachy orange with golden highlights, plum highlights in its center, and those incredible eye-catching petal “flashbacks.” It is perfect for warm-toned and fall-palette bouquets. Its color changes pleasingly with day length throughout the growing season, maintaining a consistent bloom size.
Carpe Dahlia Sangria
Carpe Dahlia Sangria was a perfectly delightful dahlia to have in the inaugural year of Triple Wren’s Novice Hybridizer Program. It performed so strongly, and absolutely won our hearts as likely the best purple dahlia we’ve ever grown. We found that Carpe Dahlia Sangria’s blooms, while solidly purple, seemed to adjust its undertones to work with bright red as well as dark reds/chocolates, making it an extremely versatile variety. Its form, with completely reflexing, ruffled, regularly-positioned petals, is utterly enchanting. Alongside its bloom size (a real goldilocks – not too large for bouquets, not too small to be lost in the shuffle), the color + form = a true winner in our opinion.
We’re so excited to grow out LOTS of these dahlias on the farm this summer so we can share them with the world. Watch this summer for Carpe Dahlia Summer Blush, Carpe Dahlia Harvest, and Carpe Dahlia Sangria to show up in bouquets and installations on our Instagram and in our emails.
