The Pollinator Patch

The Pollinator Patch The Pollinator Patch is a specialty flower farm, selling cut flowers, especially dahlias.

Today is a big day at the Pollinator Patch. I was a recent guest on the Dig on Dahlias podcast, and that episode dropped...
02/24/2026

Today is a big day at the Pollinator Patch. I was a recent guest on the Dig on Dahlias podcast, and that episode dropped this morning. With hosts Allison and Joann, I recount why I naively started a quest for healthier dahlias and what benefits and successes have kept me going.

For those interested in dahlia virus testing, I offer testing tips and cost-savings suggestions. I close with a plea to dahlia breeders. The Dig on Dahlias podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

Adding to the day's excitement is that I am filing my income taxes today. Looking through the tables and forms, I spotted that charitable donations exceeded profits in 2025, and I feel gratified.

The tubers that I harvested in greatest quantity — KA's Cinder Rose, Levi's Blue Smoke and Hollyhill Pink Parfait — were earmarked for fundraising. The purchase of those tubers in my November sale benefitted local food pantries and UNICEF.

It's with gratitude that I close the books 😉 on another year in which your support flowed into my community and advanced healthier dahlias. Thank you! 💗🙏

Several acquaintances have knowingly asked if I have planted anything yet. Here’s a peek of what has sprouted in my base...
02/15/2026

Several acquaintances have knowingly asked if I have planted anything yet. Here’s a peek of what has sprouted in my basement. Once the rest of the snow melts and mud season sets in, there is a small pile of seed packets that need sprinkled outside.

Today I am testing all of my dahlia pot tubers for To***co Streak Virus (TSV) and Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV). TSV and TSWV are the two most prevalent RNA viruses that infect dahlias. So far, so good. Zero infections detected.

Once a few more tubers wake up, I’ll send dahlia leaf samples to Agdia’s lab for Dahlia Mosaic Virus (DMV) testing. DMV, a DNA virus, is the most common virus in dahlias.

From the tubers that are negative for all three viruses, I propagate cuttings. And with those cuttings I plant my field, ensuring a healthy start to my dahlia growing season.

Keeping the dahlias company in the basement are many native perennial starts, which are squarely in their “cute as a button” phase.

Behind the scenes though I am obsessively planning where all the dahlias will be planted in my beds in order to maximize the opportunities for favorable breeding crosses. I am also studying catalogs, and querying the web for similar photos to identify varieties to add to my breeding plots with the goal of amplifying interesting traits that popped up in prior years’ dahlia seedlings. It’s going to be a beautiful year.

I am opening my tuber sale this Friday at 12 noon EST. My inventory is fairly limited, but the tubers that I have in gre...
11/26/2025

I am opening my tuber sale this Friday at 12 noon EST. My inventory is fairly limited, but the tubers that I have in greatest quantity are opportunities for giving. Proceeds from the sale of Hollyhill Sweet 16, KA’s Cinder Rose, and Levi’s Blue Smoke tubers will be donated to a couple local food pantries and to UNICEF USA. I hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

📷: American Dawn and River’s Rosie

I am confident that growing dahlias that are free of Dahlia Mosaic Virus at field scale is possible. I sampled 20% of my...
11/07/2025

I am confident that growing dahlias that are free of Dahlia Mosaic Virus at field scale is possible. I sampled 20% of my field (81 plants) for the virus this October, and all tested negative for DMV. Likewise, in October 2024 I sampled 10% or 38 plants in my field, and zero DMV infections were detected.

I am still working to exclude To***co Streak Virus from my field. In October 2023, my 10% sample (35 plants) detected zero TSV infections. However 2024 testing yielded a TSV infection rate of 13% and the 2025 rate is 8%. I have a very good idea of where TSV is coming from and a how to reduce it.

While DMV infections are mostly limited to dahlias, TSV can infect hundreds of other plants, making it more difficult to eliminate. Upon noting that most of the 2024 TSV infections had been on my field perimeter, I tested known TSV host species in the vicinity this spring. I found TSV positive plants, echinacea and rudbeckia, in our adjacent "pollinator patch" or native prairie. In 2024 we established new beds to allow better crop rotation. These beds were surrounded by the prairie and ample TSV hosts. This season I returned the dahlias to the beds they occupied in 2023, located about 15 feet south of the prairie. Looking to further reduce the TSV infection rate in 2026, the dahlias will move again, 100-200 feet south of the prairie to a side yard that is mostly grasses. Turf grasses are not TSV hosts.

I am banking on separation distances being the solution. How far from the beloved-yet-infected native prairie should I grow my healthy dahlias? Likewise, what separation distance is best between untested or diseased dahlias and clean stock? There is anecdotal evidence that as little as 10 feet can be enough to limit the spread of viruses in dahlias. My garden seems to need a bit more than 10 feet, but maybe not much more.

📷 Enjoy maps of my October field virus testing results from the past 3 seasons, a clipping from the ADS April 2025 Bulletin noting field-scale clean stock, a map of our property, and a photo of a pretty 1st year dahlia seedling. There’s too much to cover here, so if you want more info on virus testing results visit my blog on my website.

Thank you! The last orders of the season went out this morning, and I will cut down the field this weekend.Have a beauti...
10/11/2025

Thank you! The last orders of the season went out this morning, and I will cut down the field this weekend.

Have a beautiful weekend and a safe and festive homecoming, Versailles! Thank you for your support!

Most dahlias sold are infected with at least one virus. Viruses weaken, stunt or kill dahlias and can spread to other da...
10/09/2025

Most dahlias sold are infected with at least one virus. Viruses weaken, stunt or kill dahlias and can spread to other dahlias or other plants. Once infected, dahlias cannot be cured of a viral infection. Fertilizer, epsom salts, etc. merely mask symptoms.

Dahlia viruses of note include:

1. Dahlia Mosaic Virus/Dahlia Common Mosaic Virus (DMV/DCMV) - most prevalent virus (~80%), often symptomatic, specific to dahlias*, several strains (e.g., DMV-Holland, DMV-Portland, DCMV-Holland, etc) all collectively called “DMV”

2. To***co Streak Virus (TSV) - in 40-50% of dahlias, sometimes causes vein clearing but symptoms are generally less obvious than DMV, strongly correlated with slower growth

3. Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) - not prevalent, in less than 5% of dahlias, symptoms are obvious

Some growers lament that all dahlias have viruses, so culling infected plants is pointless. They are misinformed. There is a chunk of Dahlia Mosaic Virus DNA integrated in the dahlia genome. It is non-infectious. This integrated piece of viral DNA is an endogenous pararetrovirus "DMV-EPRV" aka "DMV-D10". Although ubiquitous, it is not a functional sequence and cannot harm the plant. It is not an excuse to say that clean dahlias are an impossibility.

Humans and insects are culpable for spreading viruses in dahlias. People can transfer viruses in plants with unsanitized cutting tools when pruning, harvesting, chopping down, dividing tubers, and taking cuttings. A 10% bleach solution (and others) will disinfect cutters. Aphids spread DMV while thrips spread TSV and TSWV.

For additional information and citations I have a page dedicated to the topic "Dahlia Viruses Info" on my website.

Because the topic is a real bummer, enjoy River's Coal Mine (1st photo), a spiky burgundy bloom that has been my kids' most fought over bloom this season.

Also I promise that this is the low point in this series. Hopeful and useful bits are on the horizon. I have found compelling reasons to continue on this punishing pursuit.

With tuber shopping for the 2026 dahlia season underway, I want to highlight the vendors I return to each season. If buy...
10/02/2025

With tuber shopping for the 2026 dahlia season underway, I want to highlight the vendors I return to each season.

If buying the healthiest dahlias available is also your interest, swipe to see the vendors (2nd photo) and breeders (3rd photo) with whom I have had success.

Some vendors are promising virus-free cuttings and, in my experience, are delivering. Still there are other vendors who rarely mention dahlia viruses yet have had an exceptional track record. For me, any vendor that is sending stock that is virus-free at least 50% of the time is being successful. With Dahlia Mosaic Virus infecting 80%+ of dahlias and To***co Streak Virus infecting ~40%, having virus-free dahlias is not a passive exercise.

Also, clean stock starts with the breeder. They grow their new cultivars for years while evaluating and increasing stock. Over the last 3 seasons I have obtained 77 new introductions from the breeder or their vendor. Although new introductions have had fewer opportunities for infection, 33 of the 77 arrived with a viral infection(s).

Because many breeders are not also tuber/cutting vendors, I didn't want to miss an opportunity to note those breeders who regularly provide clean new introductions.

I presprout every new tuber in my basement each spring and virus test so that only clean stock stays on my farm. I’ve tabulated the data along the way.

I presented this and related information to the Dahlia Society of Ohio in May and have many more tables, graphs and a flowchart in my deck we can discuss. One data point just persuaded me to place my first order for 2026. With an importer 🫣. It appears that all of the Peter Komen cultivars I’ve purchased have been DMV- and TSV- 🤞

Finally the 1st photo is a second year seedling, grown from seeds that Levi Tremblay gifted. The bubblegum pink color is really meeting the pink moment we are in.

I had a shamefully good time at the National Dahlia Show in Chicago. I strong-armed a couple friends into showing dahlia...
09/23/2025

I had a shamefully good time at the National Dahlia Show in Chicago. I strong-armed a couple friends into showing dahlias for the first time. While our energy flagged during late-night bloom staging Friday, we buzzed with excitement when we found our entries adorned with green, blue and red ribbons Saturday.

The setting for the show — the Chicago Botanical Gardens — could not have been more lovely. I got lost on the grounds one morning and could not have been happier. And to be with a crowd of people who adore dahlias as much or even more than you is so wonderful. I am accustomed to glazed eyes and subtle side skootches when conversations about dahlias stretch on, but I found my people in Chicago, and it was bliss.

The buzz around the blooms wasn't limited to exhibitors either. When the show closed and we started cleaning up Sunday evening, the public poured out of the show hall with fistfuls of nearly spent dahlia blooms, having purchased them for a dollar each. We watched a woman nearly run from the parking lot, anxious that she had missed her chance to take some home. It was such a great experience. I cannot wait for the West Michigan Dahlia Society to host us August 27-30, 2026 in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the next National Dahlia Show!

Bravo, Central States Dahlia Society, and thank you!

Join the Versailles FFA for the Fall Harvest Sale! 🗓 Saturday | 8:30 AM – 1:00 PMCome out for morning featuring local ve...
09/20/2025

Join the Versailles FFA for the Fall Harvest Sale! 🗓 Saturday | 8:30 AM – 1:00 PM

Come out for morning featuring local vendors, a lunch stand, beautiful dahlia bouquets, and aromatic eucalyptus bundles—perfect for upgrading your shower experience.

One of my seedlings claimed Best Miniature Bloom at the Cincinnati Dahlia Show yesterday, topping dozens of named dahlia...
09/15/2025

One of my seedlings claimed Best Miniature Bloom at the Cincinnati Dahlia Show yesterday, topping dozens of named dahlia varieties. Several of my other entries made it to the head table, but I think I was too excited about the seedling to take any more photos.

I also helped judge the blooms. I’ve begun my 3+ year tenure as an American Dahlia Society candidate judge. I’ll have another opportunity to exhibit and judge blooms at the National Dahlia Show in Chicago this coming weekend. I cannot wait to nerd out on dahlias!!

Before leaving town, I’ll prep bouquets and eucalyptus bundles for the Versailles FFA Fall Harvest Sale. My fourth grader will be standing in for me at the sale and also hawking bunches of his Indian corn. Please encourage him and check your change 🙏

📷 #1 My seedling on the head table!
📷 #2 Walking my bloom to the head table!! You can see a bug chewed on the bloom. My shock was genuine, but so was my excitement! Oh happy day!

The first dahlia seedlings are blooming, and the vanguard is unexpectedly uniform. These share the same seed parent, Hol...
07/01/2025

The first dahlia seedlings are blooming, and the vanguard is unexpectedly uniform. These share the same seed parent, Hollyhill Pink Parfait, a blush waterlily type dahlia. Her seedlings so far are all cool mid-tone pink blooms on dark stems. Many half-siblings have yet to bloom, ~300 from that seed parent, and I am hoping for diversity. A plum seedling would be a gift.

In other happenings, we’ve made good progress on our summer checklist:
✅ Eat berries until our bellies ache
✅ Bathe in puppy kisses
✅ Surrender to the inevitability of weeds

Next up:
🎆 Celebrate the 4th with my sister’s family in the cradle of American liberty

Finally, I presented an update on my dahlia virus testing at the May meeting of the Dahlia Society of Ohio. If you are interested in watching a recording of the presentation, I can send the link. I have the best of intentions of summarizing the talk’s highlights in some posts and/or a blog entry.

Happy summertime!

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North Star, OH

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