Dahlias on Dexter

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​Why We Grow (and Give Away) Dahlias

aka: The Story of How a Couple of Costco Tubers Took Over Our Lives

This is Foxy Lady

We’ve been growing dahlias for about seven years now. It started the way so many good obsessions do — accidentally. A couple of bags of tubers from Costco, tossed into the ground without much ceremony. A few months later: color explosions, frilly petals, and the realization that we were in deep.

The next year we ordered a few fancy ones from Swan Island Dahlias (warning: once you start browsing their catalog, there’s no going back). Then we found our local dahlia society — which turned out to be full of the most generous, slightly obsessed, flower weirdos you could ever hope to meet.

In those early days, we had dahlias scattered all around the yard — little patches of color in random corners. Now, most of them live together in the lower yard, in a cluster of raised beds that look a bit like a patchwork quilt. We built the beds out of repurposed wood and stone, and last year finished a garden shed made from recycled windows and salvaged materials. It’s a little crooked and full of character — just like us.

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Garden shed in the background. Sawhorse table for this year, hoping for a flower cart for 2026 season.

Jars of flowers! Out for grabs!

Maybe you're a neighbor and you've walked by and seen this setup.  Maybe you have seen a post in one of the Facebook groups.  Possibly you are someone who has taken some of our flowers for yourself or a friend.  Maybe you had no idea that we give away hundreds of colorful blooms every year, but we sure do!

Every summer, the yard bursts into bloom — reds, oranges, yellows, and wild sunset blends. And every summer, we start filling jars. We grow about 200 plants now.  And with dahlias, every time you cut a flower, two more bloom in its place!  Seriously, the more we cut and give away, the MORE we have.

We’ve given away at least 400 jars over the past several years — to neighbors, teachers, fundraisers, strangers, friends.

Sometimes we team up with others: a teacher picking up bouquets for the first day of school, a volunteer taking armloads for an animal rescue fundraiser, someone decorating for a wedding or a party. Our blooms have been in at least a few weddings that I know of.

Why do we give them away?
Because it’s fun.
Because it spreads color and joy.
Because this world is heavy enough, and color, whimsy, and sharing are ways we keep our hearts open and tender.

It's just something that makes our hearts happy - to see, cultivate, and share the color of these flowers! A way to meet our neighbors, share a smile, and remind ourselves that we can all be a part of something beautiful together.  Sometimes it feels like a little act of resistance against despair.  Maybe we are trying to grow hope alongside the dahlias.

How We Grow

Our dahlia beds are fed by the same compost pile that eats our kitchen scraps all year long. Banana peels, coffee grounds, garden clippings — it all comes back as black gold that we dig into the soil each spring.

We usually fertilize once or twice a season with a liquid, fish-based fertilizer that smells absolutely atrocious but works like magic. (Seriously, if you walk by while we’re doing it — sorry in advance.)

Dahlias are thirsty creatures, so we installed simple drip lines to conserve water and make life easier. We’re hoping to set up a rain-capture system soon to make the whole thing even more sustainable.

What We’ve Learned (Mostly the Hard Way)

Every gardener has a heartbreak story, and ours involves a tragic winter and a whole lot of mushy tubers. Because of our soggy climate (zone 8b, with generous amounts of rain), we dig our tubers every fall. Some folks leave theirs in the ground and have good luck — if there’s no hard freeze, they might come back. But for us, rot is the bigger risk.

We’ve tried every storage method known to humankind — boxes, crates, vermiculite, sawdust, prayers — and had one especially grim year where the ones left in the ground rotted and the ones we stored got moldy. We lost almost everything.

We were left with maybe ten survivors — our hardy, heroic super tubers. But here’s the beautiful part: our local club members shared extras, we found mystery boxes at sales, and neighbors offered starts. The garden came back fuller than ever.

It’s one of my favorite lessons the dahlias have taught us: loss happens, but generosity regenerates.  We've now perfected the storage that works for us, just took a little trial and lots of tears.

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This beauty is Southern Belle.

Here's another post I wrote about growing dahlias:
Dahlias & Dirt Piles

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Sometimes we hear from people: How can I help? Can I pay you? I want to do something like this! How did you get started?
Some quick answers:  We don't sell flowers. But sometimes people leave a few bucks in a jar, or send a little venmo our way.  That's used for things like fertilizer, replacing tubers, or purchasing parts for the water system.  We will always take help with digging, cleaning, and storing in the fall, and are happy to share our knowledge as we work together. Jar donations are very welcome, year around.  Save those empty pickle and jam jars and drop them off when you have a few!

We just started by doing something we loved and expanding it to include others.  You could do this in whatever way works for you!  Grow some dahlias if you want (heck, we'll give you the tubers!) Think about things YOU are passionate about or ways your neighbors or community could use support or love.  Check out Little Free Library and Little Free Art Gallery and Little Free Food Pantry. In the past our family has also had a lot of fun painting rocks and leaving them in community spaces to spread joy and whimsy.  Here's a great article about painting and hiding rocks in/around Everett (but definitely an activity that can happen no matter where you are!)

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​Choose your favorite dahlia and find out what it says about YOU!
What's Your Dahlia Personality?

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This is Nathaniel.

Just the basics + quick answers

Skip the blah, blah, and get to your questions.

Don't see yours answered here?  Email us!
​[email protected]

Q: Why do you grow and give away flowers?

A: Because we like the idea that anybody can do something small and simple to spread more color and joy in the world. 

Q: Who lives on Dexter and grows these dahlias?  Who is “me” and “we” in all this?

A: "Me" is Crystal Gurney — primary dahlia farmer, creativity doula, and overall wrangler of color and whimsy. This blog is my digital garden shed....part story archive, part how-to, part love letter to community and creativity.

"We" is the household here on Dexter Avenue, where our little urban dahlia farm grows. That includes me, my husband Alex (you may have met us wandering around with armfuls of flowers), a couple of teenagers, and a rotating cast of family and friends who often lend a hand as unofficial dahlia “farmhands.”

Q: Do you charge for the flowers? Can I order some from you?

A: Nope. We don't sell them. They’re freely given. The whole point is to brighten someone’s day, no strings attached. We don't do orders or guarantees - this is a passion hobby for us, not a business, no stress in dahlias, thank you!

​Q: How do people know when you have flowers or tubers to give away?

A: We post updates in our local Everett Buy Nothing group and in our hyper-local neighborhood group. We live in the View Ridge–Madison area, you can find the BN group here. You can learn more about the Buy Nothing Project here.

Starting next year, I’ll also be sending email updates to folks on the Dexter Dahlias email list. You can add your name here
 to get notified when we have tubers or blooms up for grabs. I may also share dahlia-growing tips, behind-the-scenes garden stories, and other community invitations for Everett pals.

Sign up for dahlia updates by email.

Q:  ​Do you sell tubers?

A:  Nope. We don’t sell them, but we often have extras at the end of the season. If we do, we give them away in the spring. Keep an eye out for posts or emails about “tuber share” time. Also, almost all of the local dahlia groups do tuber sales in the Spring and sell their extras as a club fundraiser, usually for great prices.

We have some favorite small and local growers:

• ​Bonny Blooms Dahlias
• Dahlia Barn
• Floret Farm
• Triple Wren Farms
• Soaring Hearts Dahlias

Q:  When do you plant dahlia tubers?

A:  We plant in late spring, aiming to have tubers in the ground by Mother’s Day.  Dahlias like warm soil, so putting them out too early doesn’t help much, they’ll just nap underground until it’s cozy enough to grow.

Q:  When do you dig them up? Do you have to dig? How do you store them over the winter?

A:  We dig in late October, once the plants have died back from the first frost.
You can leave them in the ground if you live in a mild climate and have good drainage, but here in our rainy Pacific Northwest microclimate, they tend to rot. Digging and storing them over winter gives us the best results. We dry them out for a few days, then tuck them into crates with sawdust or peat moss and keep them in a cool, dark, mostly dry spot — around 40–50°F. It’s part science, part witchcraft, part blind faith.

Q:  How much sun and water do dahlias need?

A:  They like full sun (at least six hours a day) and lots of water once they start blooming. Ours are on drip irrigation to help conserve water and make life easier. If you’re hand watering, aim for deep, consistent soaking rather than frequent sprinkles.

Q:  Can I join the local dahlia club?  How do I learn more?

A:  You are welcome to email us: [email protected]
Our local dahlia society is full of generous, flower-loving folks who are always excited to welcome new growers. Search for a local dahlia society near you.

• Snohomish County Dahlia Society
• American Dahlia Society
• Seattle Dahlia Society

Q: What if someone wants to make a donation or help or say “thank you” in a tangible way?

A: That’s very kind! You can:

• Save jars for us. It's best if they are at least 8oz size + and clean.
• Email us: [email protected]
• Leave a message when you grab flowers or bring jars.  We've had sweet notes tucked in empty jars and we've also had notes pinned to the fence.
• Leave a comment here on this blog post.
• Send via Venmo: @Crystal-Gurney-1 (ID #: 8901)
• If you have photos of our blooms that you'd like to share,  email them, we want to add them to this page.
  
  

We save the notes people leave us — little love letters from the neighborhood — and they always make our day.

Loooooove the fuzzy little bee butts when they get sleepy and take a little nap in the dahlias! This bloom is AC Devin

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