At the end of summer, hybridizers collect seeds from fading dahlias that have been either wild pollinated or hand pollinated. They patiently save them all winter, and plant them the next spring. They care for their plants and wait even more… until mid-summer, when their seed-planted dahlias will bloom. Each bloom is unique in the world, a beautiful hybrid creation that belongs to the person who saved and grew the seed!
The feeling of excitement and elation when a new seedling blooms is wonderful – and addicting! Dahlias have a very wide genetic diversity, so the incredible range of beautiful blooms that can happen is enormous.
Some dahlia forms and colors are more prized (of course trends come and go), but here are some basic characteristics that hybridizers consider when deciding whether or not your dahlia is a “keeper.”
Save Your Favorite Dahlia Seedlings’ Tubers
That first season, as the hybridizer’s dahlia plant grows and blooms, it also produces a subterranean tuber clump. After frost comes in the fall, the top part of the dahlia dies back, but if the hybridizer digs and saves that tuber clump, they can replant its tubers the following year to keep their new seedling growing and multiplying. The tubers will produce clones of the original seedling/plant.
We Honor and Pay Royalties to Original Creators
Here at Triple Wren, we’ve developed three separate programs that empower hybridizers to share the beauty of their creations with gardeners all over the U.S. and Canada. We offer help to:
1. Absolute beginner hybridizers (Our Hybridizer Hub in The Garden: Triple Wren’s online membership community that offers access to extensive dahlia training as well as the ability to DM our team for fast answers to specific Q’s!)
2. Hybridizers with at least 2-year-old seedlings who are ready for expert help with multiplying, marketing, and more (our Novice Hybridizer Program), and
3. Experienced, established, expert dahlia hybridizers (this program is by invitation only: our Legacy Program)
We see dahlia hybridizers as creators, and believe they deserve the same kinds of compensation as authors, musicians, artists, and other creators.
If you’re a hybridizer, or if you know one, we’d love the opportunity to help you find success! Please explore the links in this blog and send us any questions you have. We’d love to help you share your dahlias with the world!
