Dahlias fill Sharon Historical Society for Best in Bloom festival

SHARON — Dahlias filled the Sharon Historical Society and Museum for the inaugural Best in Bloom Dahlia Festival on Sept. 26 and 27.

Every room was filled with flowers that featured the brilliance of color, the uniqueness of shape and the sheer beauty of the blossoms.

Abbey Nova, the society’s executive director, came up with the idea for the festival. “I’m a dahlia grower myself and we’re always looking at ways to expand our mission and get people into the building. I was thinking of something other than pumpkins for the fall.”

She was surprised at the response when the call went out to bring dahlias to the festival, where they would be judged and put up for sale. Forty-two participants came forth bearing more than 210 blooms. They were placed in seven categories: dinner plate, ball and pompom, decorative, water lily, cactus and semi-cactus, junior growers and a collection of single, peony flowered, anemone and collarette.

Nova said most entries came from Sharon residents, but the competition did draw growers from other local towns, as well as some who came from a distance.

Helping to organize the event were Allison Chase and Stephanie Chase of Dahlia Daughters. Their late mother, Amanda Chase, had a dahlia business, which they took over upon her death. Allison Chase explained there are a number of varieties. “They are really event flowers used for weddings and parties because there are so many colors, shapes and sizes.”

One tuber can yield a great many flowers and they can also be hybridized. Once the flowers are gone, the tubers are dug up and placed in dark cool places to be ready to plant the next year.

But dahlia growers often have to battle the elements, Chase said, noting one year she was faced with an invasion of Japanese beetles.

She is grateful that this year was a great one for her dahlias, which she sells from a stand outside her home on Amenia Union Road.

Nova said dahlias bloom later in the growing season, often in late July or August. “They like the cool nights and will remain right up until frost.”

A cocktail party took place Saturday evening which filled the museum with hundreds of guests. Steve Ketterer, Allison Chase, Sarah Coon of Paley’s Farm Market and Lynden Miller, noted author and garden designer, were tasked with awarding ribbon winners.

Best in Show went to Betsy Ennis. First place winners in their categories were: Linda Sloane (dinner plate), Juliet and Leila Bell Scimeca (ball and pompom), Kathleen Fanning (decorative), Kathleen Fanning (water lily), Betsy Ennis (cactus and semi-cactus), Myra Plescia (collarette) and Adelaide Lee (junior grower).

On Sunday, local artist Colleen McGuire helped youngsters paint pictures of dahlias, while guests viewed all the submissions and made purchases.

Also on Sunday, the People’s Choice Award was given to Steve Ketterer for his dinner plate entry.