FIRST BEGINNINGS: Tale of a Dahlia Seedling

One thing I have been working on since first collecting seed in 2019 is diving into dahlia hybridizing. That summer I collected seed from only about four seed parents, and it would be the summer of 2020 where I would begin growing dahlias from seed for the first time. Little did I know in 2019 we would see a world wide pandemic, and find such a gift to see a new surprise in the garden that following summer.

From those meager beginnings, I still have one seedling from that original group. That one seedling was salvaged from a peanut sized tuber, and the only seedling to survive my mistake of leaving them in the barn during a cold snap. I lost every single seedling pot tuber to mush; except, the one little peanut tuber.

Since then, I’ve learned my lesson and began storing them with a bit more care.

In the summer of 2021, our family would spend our last time in the beloved home Ben & I raised our daughters. It was sad for me, because this not only served as space of formative memories for my family; but, it also served as the beginning of growing dahlias out of deep grief & loss of my older brother, Willy. That summer, I was tasked with packing up our home and digging all the tubers toward our present home. It was also the year where I didn’t have the best record keeping of seed parentage.

However, in the swirl of moving pieces, I found such kindness in some keeper seedlings. Some died in winter storage (I did try), but what has remained is my first introduction in 2026, Kamille’s Shortcake.

My goal was to have enough of this bloom to show in various ADS shows, but summer is fast and preparing for sending my oldest to college took front seat. I have sent this seedling to various trial gardens, but I will not know if she receives an 85 or higher (this putting her in the ADS book. Regardless of this lovely bloom leaning more toward garden/cut-flower, I am going to be introducing her in 2026, exclusively on my website.

Kamille’s Shortcake