Our Dahlia Story.....

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 Back in 2017, I was just finishing up on being the executor of my parents will and all the time and emotion energy of finishing up the details of my parents passing just 7 months apart from each other.  I also had 5 children (3 still at home), 2 dogs, horse, and a husband with a very stressful job.  We had been looking for a place to live that would have views that were beautiful and relaxing.  And then on Valentine’s day in 2017 we decided to go look at homes as our valentine date and we came across the most amazing lot, on top a hill with views of the mountains and a lake.  It was literally an answer to a prayer (a dream really) we had for a long time.   It was over 3 acres of land, and a price we could afford.  We had always had gardens, and I have always grown herbs, but this was a bigger space and we wanted to plant something we loved.  Fast forward a couple of years and we had a pasture for our horses, and a garden area but a large area just ready to grow something besides weeds and we couldn’t decide.    Life was busy so we put off doing anything.  And then in 2021 a group of ladies from my church invited me to make some flower arrangements for the ER’s in our area (they were having a really tough couple of months with COVID).   A flower farmer about 30 minutes away invited us to glean the last of her flowers before she started doing her winter clean up.  And I was introduced to my first Dahlia.   I fell in LOVE instantly!  The Dahlia patches were just breathtaking.  Oh my goodness were they amazing.  I had never seen a flower so amazing intricate, the petals form such different designs and colors and they just seemed magical to me.  I text my husband excitedly and said I found what we need to grow-  DAHLIAS!  From that moment on I was hooked.  I started purchasing tubers online and reading everything I could about them.  I also connected with a neighbor who introduced me to my local Dahlia Society and there was no looking back.   I plotted and planned and learned all that winter and was so excited to begin.  And then, Mother Nature threw some surprises at me.  Very long story, but to shorten it we had drought, then too much rain, then broken irrigation pump, and temporary relocation of the planting area, so a very weird first season.  But it gave me the chance to learn and adjust and make mistakes. But even after all that, seeing the beauty in each Dahlia was so joyful and worth the effort.  The second season we were able to plant where we wanted and things went much better.  Still lots to learn, and gophers to battle.  But so many flowers to share and enjoy.  I found that the magic in Dahlias really shined when I was able to bring arrangements to people having a hard moment in life.  They are a beautiful representation of Love and can bring happiness into hard life moments as well as the best of life moments (weddings).  Third Season I battled some pests at the beginning of the season, and some watering issues, but had so many beautiful blooms it was amazing.  Being a flower farmer is a lot of work.  But now that my kids have all left home I have the time and energy to devote to these amazing flowers and I love it.  I am in awe of the beauty that God created for us to enjoy.  We put in a little work, and we are rewarded with such beauty.  And it is a privilege to be part of the process.  I don’t do this alone, I have many helpers and a husband that supports most of my seemingly crazy ideas.  Which explains the name of my farm- HiDahlia Blooms.  Years ago, my husband took to calling my crazy ideas Heidi’s Ideas shortened to Hideas.  So it seems appropriate that our farm should also take a version of that name.

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