For Courtney Kalian of Silo Dahlias, flowers and farming have always been tied to family. Her love for dahlias began in her aunt and uncle’s garden, while the name Silo Dahlias reaches even further back, to her grandparents’ dairy farm in Brush Prairie, Washington, and the place Courtney still calls ‘the farm that built her.’
Where Her Love for Dahlias Began
Courtney’s love for dahlias began in her family garden, where she first discovered just how much beauty and diversity could exist within one kind of flower. Her interest deepened when she learned that dahlias grown from seed could produce something entirely new.
That possibility captured her imagination. Growing dahlias was wonderful, but the idea that she could plant a seed and discover a flower that had never existed before opened up a whole new part of gardening for Courtney. Her fascination with hybridizing has continued to grow with every season.
The Farm That Built Her
The name Silo Dahlias comes from a place that shaped Courtney’s life long before she began hybridizing. Her grandparents owned a dairy farm in Brush Prairie, Washington, and its silos still stand as a familiar landmark in the community.
Courtney describes it as “the farm that built her,” and we love what that says about the story behind Silo Dahlias. The name is more than a nod to a recognizable landmark. It connects the flowers she is creating now with generations of family, farming, hard work, patience, and care.
Those same qualities show up in the way Courtney approaches her dahlias today.
Silo Dahlias: Dahlias Made for Real Gardens
As Courtney evaluates her seedlings, she isn’t only looking for a beautiful flower. She wants to develop strong, reliable plants that will grow well for home gardeners, and she is especially passionate about encouraging people who are growing dahlias for the first time.
A dahlia may catch our attention because of an extraordinary bloom, but the plant carrying that bloom matters too. Courtney hopes to create varieties that combine beauty with resilience, giving gardeners plants that are both exciting to grow and dependable in the garden.
The gorgeous purple Silo Grandma Jean pictured here is an excellent example of this purposeful hybridizing, and it is lovingly named for Courtney’ grandmother who also deeply inspired her love for dahlias.
Sharing Courtney’s Dahlias
One of the joys of our Novice Hybridizer Program has been getting to know growers like Courtney at this exciting stage of their work. We get to see not only the flowers they are creating now, but also the ideas and values that are beginning to shape what their breeding programs may become.
For Courtney, those roots run especially deep: back to her aunt and uncle’s garden, to her grandparents’ dairy farm and its familiar silos, and to the “farm that built her.” We’re so happy to have Courtney as part of our hybridizer family and to help share her flowers with gardeners beyond her own fields.a recognizable landmark. It connects the flowers she is creating now with generations of family, farming, hard work, patience, and care.
Life Beyond the Dahlia Patch
Flowers are only one part of Courtney’s farm life. When she isn’t among the dahlias, she also raises Hereford cattle, usually with her loyal Australian Shepherd close beside her.
Courtney also treasures time spent adventuring with her nieces. We love getting to know these pieces of our hybridizers’ lives because the flowers they create are shaped by so much more than what happens in the garden. Families, farms, places, seasons, and the lives being lived around them all become part of the story.
Sharing Courtney’s Dahlias
One of the joys of our Novice Hybridizer Program has been getting to know growers like Courtney at this exciting stage of their work. We get to see not only the flowers they are creating now, but also the ideas and values that are beginning to shape what their breeding programs may become. For Courtney, those roots run especially deep!
We’re so happy to have Courtney as part of our hybridizer family and to help share her flowers with gardeners beyond her own fields.
