March Meeting

Our March dahlia meeting will be held Thursday, March 7th at 7:30 PM at the Celeste Campbell Center, 155 High Street, Eugene. Bob Chibante, owner of Mountain Valley Dahlias in Gold Beach, will give a presentation on how to propagate dahlias by taking cuttings. We will also discuss what's happening in the garden this month. Bring your questions for our new "mini-clinic", held before the evening's main presentation. As always, the meeting is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

February Meeting

Our February dahlia meeting will be held Thursday, February 7th at 7:30 PM at the Celeste Campbell Center, 155 High Street, Eugene. The topic of this meeting will be new dahlia introductions for 2013. We will show a DVD that presents all of new dahlias that earned a passing score at the 2012 trial gardens . As always, the meeting is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

Welcome to 2013 - It's Time to Renew Your Membership

January is the time to renew your dahlia society membership and pay yearly dues to help sustain our organization. If you joined the Lane County Dahlia Society after September 1st 2012, then your dues are good thru 2013. We encourage members to join the American Dahlia Society and the Pacific Northwest Dahlia Conference as well.

Lane County Dahlia Society Dues are $10 per person, $15 each family; Members receive 11 issues of our newsletter The Dahlia Data

American Dahlia Society $24 per person, $27 for a family. Members receive the quarterly ADS Bulletin and the 2010 Classification Guild. The Bulletin contains timely articles pertaining to dahlias, information on new cultivars, and a host of other topics. The Classification book is indispensable as a guide that states which cultivars performed well in your region and lists winning varieties from around the nation. The ADS provides a great service to all dahlia enthusiasts at a bargain price.

Pacific Northwest Dahlia Conference $10 per person or $15 for a family. The PNDS hosts 3 trial gardens: Inland Empire Garden in Spokane, Canby Trial Garden in Canby, Oregon & the Victoria Trial Garden on Canada's Vancouver Island. The PNDS provides training for judges, maintains records for all member societies, and sponsors an annual show. Each member of the PNDS receives 3 newsletters a year, a membership booklet, and an exhibiting number.

Please renew your dues by mailing them to our Treasurer Phyllis Shafer at : 312 Limerick Ave., Eugene, OR 97404. Make all checks payable to : The Lane County Dahlia Society.

Our first meeting of the new year will be held Thursday, February 7th. at the Celeste Campbell Center in Eugene. Our program that evening will be a DVD of the new 2012 dahlia introductions. We hope to see you there!

November Meeting

Our November dahlia meeting will be held Thursday, November 1st at 7:30 PM at the Celeste Campbell Center, 155 High Street, Eugene. The topic of this meeting will be the proper digging, dividing, and storage of dahlia tubers. Society members will be set up at many work stations, giving hands-on demonstrations of tuber dividing. This is one of our most popular meetings of the year and we expect a large turnout. As always, the meeting is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

October Meeting

The Lane County Dahlia Society will hold its October meeting Thursday, October 4th at 7:30 PM at the Celeste Campbell Center, 155 High Street, Eugene. At this month's meeting Eugene Kenyon & Sonia Hall will give a demonstration on saving seed from dahlias. They will also talk about their unique hybridizing programs and explain the "magic" behind the creation of new dahlia varieties. We will also have an informal dahlia "show-and-tell" as members bring in blooms to share. The meeting is free and open to the public.

Show Recap - The 49th Annual LCDS Dahlia Show

This weekend, the Lane County Dahlia Society hosted its 49th Annual Show. Exhibitors arrived from all over the State of Oregon and from Washington as well. By 9:00 AM Saturday morning, the Wheeler Pavilion was aglow with hundreds of dahlia exhibits awaiting judging. By early afternoon, the judges had picked the "best of the best" and the head table celebrated the winners. The front of the table displayed the best single entry and triple entry winners from all 36 sections.

The back of the head table highlighted the Novice and Amateur winners, as well as the of the special section and seedling winners.

Everywhere you looked, there were beautiful dahlias! We were fortunate to have Eugene Register-Guard writer Diane Dietz shadow our Saturday morning judging. She then wrote a great story that appeared on the front page of Sunday's City Section.

A display of mass arrangements.

A table covered with lovely basket entries.

Best 1-Bloom Fully Double in the Show

"Sir Richard"

Wayne Lobaugh

Best 3-Bloom Fully Double in the Show

"Brookside J Cooley"

Max Ollieu

Best 1-Bloom Disc Center Bloom in the Show

"Fancy Pants"

Tiffany Boatwright

Best 3-Bloom Disc Center in the Show

"Raeann's Canis Majoris"

Wayne Lobaugh

Best Basket in the Show

"Hollyhill Crystal, Mary Eveline, & Lark's Pioneer Pride"

Christy Parks

Best Arrangement in the Show

Along the Garden Path

Margaret Kennedy

There were so many excellent entries that made the Head Table. Lane County Dahlia Society members had a strong showing at their "home" show. It was particularly exciting to see Amateur exhibitor Gretchen Randle and Novice exhibitor Brian Fullerton each on the head table. Great Job - you have made LCDS proud! Below are the 1-bloom and 3-bloom exhibits from the Head Table that were grown by LCDS members.

Best 1-Bloom AA Size

"AC Bean"

Camille Noel

Best 1-Bloom B Size

"Stillwater Liz"

Gretchen Randle

Best 1-Bloom Ball

"Snoho Doris"

Michael Canning

Best 1-Bloom Waterlily

"Wildwood Marie"

Brian Fullerton

Best 1-Bloom Novelty Fully Double

"River's Novelty"

Michael Canning

Best 1-Bloom Single

"Firesplash"

Brian Fullerton

Best 1-Bloom Mignon Single

"Lo-Blush"

Brian Fullerton

Best 1-Bloom Peony

"Elvira"

Brian Fullerton

Best 3-Bloom A Size

"Mingus Wesley"

Cheryle Hawkins

Best 3-Bloom Anemone

"EV Purple Puff"

Sonia Hall

Best 3-Bloom Novelty Fully Double

"River's Novelty"

Eugene Kenyon

Best 1-Bloom Flower of the Year

"ReaAnn's Peach"

Cheryle Hawkins

Smallest Pompon Blue Ribbon Winner

"Little Scottie"

Tom Heath

LCDS member Camille Noel with the highest scoring ADS Seedling Bench Evaluation, bred by Mike Iler. Its name.."Camille Noel"!

We had a special treat at our show this year. Our Flower of the Year was "Raeann's Peach" and we were honored to have the real Raeann - Raeann Lobaugh - at our show. Here she is, pictured above, holding an exhibit of her flower.

LCDS 49th Annual Dahlia Show

Lane County Dahlia Society 49th Annual Show

" A Rainbow of Dahlias"

Show Flower of the Year: RaeAnn's Peach

September 15-16, 2012

The Wheeler Pavilion, Lane County Fair Grounds

Entries accepted Friday September 14th from 6 PM - 8:00 PM and Saturday September 15th from 6:30 AM to 8:45 AM. All exhibitors must check in at the registration table. The judges meeting will start at 9:00 AM sharp and judging will commence at 9:30 AM.

The show will open to the public from Noon until 6 PM on Saturday and from 10 AM until 4 PM on Sunday. Please come, bring a camera and enjoy the show! Free Admission! The public is encouraged to vote for the People's Choice special entry and there will be a staffed information table to answer any questions. We look forward to seeing you!