May 26, 2026 · 40 min · 14 segments
In this episode of *The Evergreen Thumb*, we talk with Master Gardener Ed Adams about growing dahlias in Western Washington, including what it takes to manage a large collection of over 600 plants…
And then one of my sisters was always out there working with her, and she got the green thumb from my grandma, and then my mother as well, uh, liked, you know, dahlias and just loved gardening.
I love, uh, dahlias 'cause they, you know, they, they bloom basically from, you know, mid to end, uh, end of June all the way up until Thanksgiving often, so not just the two weeks like, uh, you know, like tulips or- [laughs]
Or iris
... other flowers.
Iris.
I love irises, but yeah, they don't bloom very long.
They don't bloom very long.
Some plants don't, don't bloom very long.
So what is managing 600-plus dahlia varieties look like in your garden?
Yeah, I, I kinda do the drip, so I have like one, one bed that'll be like mostly all pink and white, and then another bed that'll be like mostly yellow.
So I've got like seven different beds and, and, uh, yeah, it's a lot of work, but it sure is a lot of fun.
So, you know, you, you drive down our road and you can, you can see the dahlias from quite a ways away and, you know, everything else.
But, but yeah, it's, it's a lot of work, but it's, it's so much fun.
And then we don't sell them or anything.
My wife, uh, she takes bouquets into work every day for her coworkers and everybody's all smiles.
[laughs] So...
Ah
... you know, it, it doesn't get too hot here.
I mean, you know, rarely, rarely do we get over 80 once in a while, so, so they don't get scorched.
Um, they don't like a lot of rain, so we don't get a lot of rain out here.
You can control it with your, with your hose.
And then one of my sisters was always out there working with her, and she got the green thumb from my grandma, and then my mother as well, uh, liked, you know, dahlias and just loved gardening.
I love, uh, dahlias 'cause they, you know, they, they bloom basically from, you know, mid to end, uh, end of June all the way up until Thanksgiving often, so not just the two weeks like, uh, you know, like tulips or- [laughs]
Or iris
... other flowers.
Iris.
I love irises, but yeah, they don't bloom very long.
They don't bloom very long.
Some plants don't, don't bloom very long.
So what is managing 600-plus dahlia varieties look like in your garden?
Yeah, I, I kinda do the drip, so I have like one, one bed that'll be like mostly all pink and white, and then another bed that'll be like mostly yellow.
So I've got like seven different beds and, and, uh, yeah, it's a lot of work, but it sure is a lot of fun.
So, you know, you, you drive down our road and you can, you can see the dahlias from quite a ways away and, you know, everything else.
But, but yeah, it's, it's a lot of work, but it's, it's so much fun.
And then we don't sell them or anything.
My wife, uh, she takes bouquets into work every day for her coworkers and everybody's all smiles.
[laughs] So...
Ah
... you know, it, it doesn't get too hot here.
I mean, you know, rarely, rarely do we get over 80 once in a while, so, so they don't get scorched.
Um, they don't like a lot of rain, so we don't get a lot of rain out here.
You can control it with your, with your hose.
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