Dahlias, SF’s Official Flower, Star in Their Annual GG Park Show

By San Francisco Richmond ReView on August 2, 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

By Linda Badger

Members of dahlia societies from all over California, Oregon and Idaho will be coming to San Francisco’s Annual Dahlia Show Aug. 17 and 18 at the Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park to display their best blooms and to compete for coveted prizes, such as “best in show,” “best arrangement,” and “nature’s oddities.”

The public can attend for the prize of being surrounded by dahlias of all colors, sizes and shapes, from the button-sized, honeycomb-like “Pompons” to the big, showy “Dinnerplate Dahlias.”

Flowers of many colors and shapes bloom every summer at the Dahlia Dell next to the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. *Photo by Andy Fischer.*

According to Dahlia Society member Deborah Dietz, this year’s show will be impressive, with 1,000 cut dahlias on display. Bouquets of dahlias, with “Paris Olympics” themes, will be exhibited, including “High Jump” arrangements taking dahlias to new heights and “Seine” bouquets utilizing water features. Special photo opportunities will be made available so visitors can take selfies while surrounded by a profusion of colorful dahlia blooms. While the show’s prizes will be awarded by expert judges, visitors will get a chance to vote for their favorite blooms to select this year’s winner of the prestigious “people’s choice” prize.

Dahlia Society of California members Deborah Dietz (left) and Sarah Smith attend to the flowers in the Dahlia Dell east of the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. Every summer, the garden bursts with blooms of just about every color (except blue). The display is packed with many of the 700 named varieties of dahlias. *Courtesy photo.*

Dietz noted that “roving ambassadors” – dahlias experts – will be on hand during the show to answer questions from the public about growing and tending to dahlias in their own gardens. The cool, temperate climate of San Francisco is especially friendly to the flowers. To promote local cultivation, members of the Dahlia Society hold an annual plant sale in the spring and often have some plants for sale on Tuesday and Saturday mornings in Golden Gate Park’s Dahlia Dell next to the east side of the Conservatory of Flowers.

Dahlias have a long history in San Francisco. On Oct. 4, 1926, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted the dahlia as San Francisco’s official flower because, “its versatility, its beauty and its infinite variety of color and form make it the very symbol of San Francisco life and of the spirit of her people.” Anyone who visits the Dahlia Dell will understand this somewhat flowery sentiment. The Dell’s main display consists of a gated patch surrounded by asphalt and packed with 700 named varieties of dahlias – as dense and diverse as the City itself.

Steve Dibner shows off a couple of flowers representing the diversity of the blooms. *Courtesy photo.*

During the absolute peak season for dahlias, typically the last week of August through the first week of September, the Dahlia Dell is bursting with fanciful blooms, which are tended to by a group of dedicated volunteers. Each plant has its own individuality and unique nameplate: “Fancy Pants,” “Badger Twinkle,” “Candy Corn,” “Kung Fu Kitty,” “Mystic Fantasy,” “Irish Glow” and “Soul Shine,” to name just a few. The Dahlias are in bloom from late July through November.

Dahlias have been on display as “San Francisco’s flower” in Golden Gate Park for 100 years but are native to the mountainous regions of Mexico and Guatemala. History has it that Spanish Conquistadors learned of dahlias from the Aztecs, who cultivated them for food and medicine.

The plant known to the Aztecs consisted of a starchy tuber and an unremarkable, daisy-like bloom. That changed in the late 18th century when the tubers made their way from Mexico to Europe, where botany was evolving as a science. European botanists learned that dahlias could be easily “hybridized” through artificial cross-pollination to change their colors and forms. They quickly produced a myriad of colorful, decorative varieties.

Indeed, botanists named the plant after one of their own, Swedish botanist, Anders Dahl. The brilliant blooms of the new dahlia varieties took Europe by storm. Marie Antoinette, Josephine Bonaparte and Queen Victoria were all said to be early enthusiasts.

Today, growers have been able to hybridize 21 distinct forms of dahlias in 15 official colors, resulting in thousands of varieties. However, no one has ever been able to cultivate a blue dahlia.

“Life is better with dahlias,” Dietz said.

The Dahlia Society of California’s annual Dahlia Show is coming to Golden Gate Park this month. Free to the public, the floral fest will be at the Hall of Flowers (San Francisco County Fair Building) at Ninth Avenue and Lincoln Way on Saturday, Aug. 17, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 18, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Learn more at sfdahlias.org.