Episode 735: The magic of dahlias with Anne Long of The Dahlia House

https://youtu.be/_S5lU5VPqk8?si=nJkFjh_vDEfP4aV5 Anne Long likes to call herself a cheerleader for dahlias and many other flowers that she wants gardeners and growers to experience. “I love ridiculously gorgeous flowers that look like they are out of a high-end magazine,” she proclaims. “And I want my neighbor to have them on her kitchen table.” At the peak of dahlia season here in the Pacific Northwest, I sat down with this passionate founder of The Dahlia House in Mount Vernon, Washington, to learn more about her gardening hobby-turned-tuber business. The gorgeous display of thousands of vibrant, healthy dahlia varieties was mesmerizing, with about 500 different cultivars for the 2026 tuber season. Anne also devotes an area of her field to showcase unique selections from her favorite dahlia hybridizers, Kristine Albrecht of Santa Cruz Dahlias, and Hailey Sly of River Merle Farm. The Dahlia House has expanded its catalog to include ranunculus and anemone corms, seeds, floral art, as well as freesias and gladiolas for 2026. Join me on a visual tour and an insightful conversation that left me thinking I should rip out everything in my raised beds and devote my life to dahlias! Anne Long, owner of The Dahlia House in Mt. Vernon, Washington For the past three years or so, I have connected annually with Anne Long of The Dahlia House at the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival. Her award-winning retail booth was located quite close to the Blooms & Bubbles mainstage, where I produce the daily floral design workshops. So a friendship began with our mutual interest (and my admiration for the beautiful display created by Anne and her team). I mean, how do you make dahlia tubers look sexy in February? At The Dahlia House display, the booth resembled a charming white cottage-style farmhouse, complete with framed art photographs of the flowers for which you can order tubers and corms. Dahlia season at The Dahlia House Anne joined Slow Flowers as a member and I made a note to schedule a visit to see her flowers in person and learn more about her story. In early September, I we spent a morning in the dahlia fields. When your sneakers match your flowers! Anne Long of The Dahlia House You can read the full story of Anne’s highs and lows as a dahlia gardener on her website. LINK is here so you can dive in and read more. The narrative includes this recap: By 2020, when Anne was feeling like “a Flower Boss Queen,” something drastic happened. And she had to dig out of a few devastating years of failed crops. Anne decided to start a flower business, mainly to have a business license so she could afford to replace her tuber stock at wholesale prices. She ordered up all of her favorites and listed the extra tubers for sale on my website. The story continues, as Anne writes: Guess what? I was completely sold out! Dahlia mania is real.  Anne Long with Stephanie Ware of Melodic Caring Project At the end of the episode, we added a five-minute bonus interview when Anne introduces her friend and farm host, Stephanie Ware, of Melodic Caring Project, a nonprofit organization that serves patients worldwide through live-streaming musical performances and more. The Dahlia House and Melodic Caring Project have teamed up for several years to promote this important cause, and it was really interesting to learn more about this collaboration. Anemones with a selection of Pots by Emma (daughter Emma Long's pottery company) Dahlias with a Pots by Emma vessel Thank you for joining me today! I’m so grateful to Anne Long of The Dahlia House  for her support and membership in the Slow Flowers Society. Dreamy dahlia flat-lay Sign up for The Dahlia House’s newsletterFind Pots by Emma hereFind and follow The Dahlia House on Instagram and Facebook. Thank you to our Sponsors This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 700 florists, shops, and studios who design with local,