HAVING MY CAKE....

The last few weeks have been an endless flurry for me and for other dahlia growers. Since the show season started with the Kitsap County show the first weekend in August, everything in our lives has become a repeating cycle. Fridays and Saturdays marked the days that we spent selecting the best blooms, cutting them, preparing, staging and writing entry tickets, protecting and transporting the blooms (I call them "the Babies"), packing them into the exhibition hall, placing entries in the right sections, checking out the competition, participating in the judges' meeting and working with our judging teams. On Saturday afternoons, after having lunch with everyone, we would spend the afternoon assessing the results of the morning, taking pictures and chatting with those we haven't seen for awhile, usually about dahlias, growers and growing. Sundays, we reconvened, not quite so early, and with much less stress than Saturday - we didn't have to get there quite so early, but when we did, we had more time to visit, and anticipate the awards presentation later that day. After that, there was cleanup, and for the hosts of the shows, breaking down and packing out everything involved in the transformation of a simple hall or conference room into the sea of colors and textures as only dahlias can do.

KITSAP COUNTY SHOW - KITSAP COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS, PRESIDENT'S HALL Eventually, we make it home to our own gardens. Depending on how long we've been gone, all most of us can see is what needs to be done. If we have been gone more than one or two days, as I was last weekend when I went to Spokane for three days, it seemed like everything had grown about a foot, and required disbudding, tying up, weeding and deadheading. I have fewer than 100 plants in my home garden, and about 60 in our demonstration garden, but it took me most of yesterday before I was finally able to feel somewhat finished. Of course, if you are like me, you are also eager to edit and post some of the hundreds of photos that I just have to take of the brilliant and diverse display of dahlias everywhere I go.

SPOKANE SHOW - FINCH ARBORETUM Having caught up with everything after getting home, we begin the cycle anew, of paying extra attention to promising blooms in the garden, keeping up with the new buds that we either missed, or which have popped up in the last five minutes since we started disbudding(!), and planning for the next show. This weekend will begin on Thursday for me, since it marks the much anticipated 2012 American Dahlia Society Show in Portland. For the first time, I will have the opportunity to bump elbows with dahlia growers from across the country and other parts of the world. I am looking forward to the experience of clerking at this national show, since the culture of each show is slightly different, reflecting the sponsoring groups' unique and distinctive elements. I have a few blooms that I have earmarked for the show, and keeping my fingers crossed that the relentless summer of North Central Washington will gentle just a bit, just enough for my flowers to keep their centers, maintain their pure color, and their back petals. I've also been going through my photos to see what might qualify for the photo division (since I often do better at taking pictures of dahlias than I do at growing them!) It will be a great weekend, with perfect weather, and so many dahlias to see, both indoors and out! If I take fewer than 1000 pictures this weekend, I will be surprised - thank goodness we use memory cards instead of film - I don't think I could afford it otherwise!

SNOHOMISH COUNTY DAHLIA SHOW - FLORAL HALL, EVERETT, WASHINGTON In addition to the competition at shows, several of us are also involved with our local county fairs, lighting up the floriculture exhibits with our favorite flowers, and providing judges for this and other floral categories. Dahlia growing and showing reminds me of the concept that we can "have our cake and eat it too." Always a challenge to do both, I think that the lives of my colleagues in the garden and exhibition hall are a great example of how we can be successful at this. While it most certainly requires a commitment on our parts, it is one of the most gratifying activities that I, as a mere human, have ever pursued. I feast at the banquet of delicious dahlias every day of my summer, and although I have enough to eat, I still hunger for more... My wish for all of us, as we begin the even more more bountiful and generous month of September, is that, although completely filled up after each generous repast, our appetites are still ravenous and that we find ourselves hungry as ever!