Discovering Dahlias: An Interview with Floret Farm’s Erin Benzakein
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
In 2008, Erin and Chris Benzakein moved from Seattle an hour north to Skagit Valley in order to pursue a slower, simpler life and raise their children surrounded by nature. Soon after buying a small house in the country, they tilled up their plot in order to create a huge garden. Tucked in with all the vegetables was a double row of flowering sweet peas planted in memory of Erin’s great-grandmother.
After sharing some of the blooms with friends and neighbors, word got out and Erin started receiving orders. The following year Erin replaced all of the vegetables in her garden with flowers. Floret expanded year after year, eventually filling every corner of the tiny two-acre plot with flowers destined for grocery stores, florists, bouquet subscriptions, and weddings.
Floret later expanded into specialty flower seed and bulb sales and now offers a collection of specialty cut flower seeds, tools, supplies, and gifts through its online shop. After building the business on a tiny plot of land, Erin’s dream to expand Floret was finally realized in 2017, when she and Chris were able to purchase the neighboring 24-acre farm.
Their larger farm is now devoted to breeding new cut flower and foliage varieties that will help give local growers an advantage in the marketplace. What started as a tiny backyard cutting garden years ago in Mount Vernon, Washington, has blossomed into a thriving research and education farm that grows more than 2,000 different flower varieties.
Erin’s shared her learnings and taught thousands of people to grow flowers through her blog, books, workshops, and social media channels. Her best-selling book Cut Flower Garden won the American Horticultural Society’s 2018 Book Award and her second book, A Year in Flowers, made The New York Times best-seller list and illustrates beautiful seasonal arrangements for every season. Growing Floret, a documentary series about Erin, the Floret team, and the expanding farm, debuted on the Magnolia Network in 2021, and season two of the series premiered in spring 2023.
In her book Discovering Dahlias, Erin shares secrets to growing, cultivating, and arranging gorgeous dahlias. The book features a simple-to-follow overview of the dahlia classification system, an A–Z guide with photos and descriptions of more than 350 varieties, and step-by-step how-tos for designing dahlia bouquets.
In support of the book, she’s shared some of what she’s learned about growing dahlias and what she hopes to inspire in more gardeners and flower enthusiasts.
What inspired you to create a book about dahlias?
I have been growing dahlias for nearly 20 years now, and in that time there have been so few books published about this beloved cut flower — which is surprising since there are so many incredible varieties and so many enthusiastic fans. In an effort to change that, we set out to create the most beautiful and comprehensive book that we possibly could in the hopes of converting more gardeners into dahlia lovers as well as inspiring seasoned dahlia growers to try some new and unusual varieties.
How is this book different from others about dahlias?
To be honest, there aren’t very many current books about dahlias to choose from, but I would say that what makes ours so different is the sheer number of varieties profiled and the incredibly beautiful photos that grace every page. This book is overflowing with hundreds of stunning photos taken here on our farm by my husband, Chris, and the magic of dahlias really shines through.
What reader are you hoping to serve with Discovering Dahlias?
We created this book primarily for flower farmers, floral designers, and gardeners, but it’s really for anyone who loves dahlias. We tried to keep the information as useful and approachable as possible while using as many beautiful images as possible to illustrate both the beauty and the technical aspects of growing dahlias successfully. Our goal was to create such an inspiring resource that no matter what someone’s skill level is they could learn something from this book.
When did you first start growing dahlias, and what has your experience with them been?
Many years ago, when I was just starting to grow flowers, I got a phone call from a local flower grower telling me to load up the kids and my shovel and head over to her house. At the time I knew very little about dahlias, only that I admired them every time I visited her garden. We worked all morning digging up massive clumps of tubers, and as we went she split off a chunk of each variety for me to take home. By lunchtime the back of my station wagon was full, and those tubers went on to fill my backyard cutting garden and eventually become an entire field at my farm. That experience was my first taste of just how generous gardeners are and taught me the joy and impact that sharing can have on other people’s lives.
Some people think dahlias are hard to grow. Do you have any tips for beginners?
Dahlias are one of the most prolific and rewarding cut flowers you can possibly grow and bloom abundantly from late summer through autumn in most climates. Dahlias do quite well if given the proper growing conditions: full sun (at least 6 hours per day), fertile soil, and adequate water.
What varieties would you recommend for people growing dahlias for the first time?
When you’re first getting started, selecting varieties can be incredibly overwhelming because there are so many to choose from. Depending on your color preference, the shapes you like and the sizes you’re after, there’s really something for everyone. But if I were to advise a brand new grower, I would say skip the dinner plate and novelties your first year and instead start with ball-shaped varieties. A few of my longtime favorites are ‘Cornel’, ‘Jomanda’, ‘Crichton Honey’, and ‘Snoho Doris’.
Dahlias aren’t often offered through florists or supermarkets. Why is that, and where can people buy dahlias?
Dahlias aren’t the longest-lasting cut flowers, normally persisting for about 5 to 6 days in the vase. They also don’t hold up well out of water and so can’t be shipped like many other cut flowers. Because of this, they are best sourced locally, and if you can find a grower in your area, you’ll have access to the freshest, most beautiful blooms from summer through autumn.
Do you sell any of the dahlia varieties featured in the book?
After many years of selling dahlia tubers and never being able to meet the demand, we decided to press pause on offering our stock and instead connect eager gardeners with small farms and specialty dahlia producers around the world. We’ve had so much fun playing matchmaker, and rather than putting all of our energy into growing out tubers for sale, we’re instead investing our collective effort into breeding new dahlia varieties in colors and forms that designers, gardeners, and farmers are longing for.
What do you want gardeners to know about dahlias? Any fun facts you can share?
In addition to being one of the most productive cut flowers you can possibly grow, dahlias also multiply abundantly every season. In the spring you plant a single tuber in the ground, and by autumn you can dig up an entire clump of tubers, anywhere from 3 to 10, from the original mother. Few flowers give you a greater return than dahlias.
What are a few of the dahlia varieties you are most excited to grow on the farm in the coming season?
One of the most popular color palettes for weddings and events is blush and champagne, but there are very few dahlia varieties in these colorways. I have been trialing as many varieties as I can get my hands on in these coveted colors and am so excited to continue growing them out this coming season. Some of my longstanding favorites are ‘Cafe au Lait’, ‘Appleblossom’, ‘Break Out’, ‘Maya’, and ‘Castle Drive’, and I am over the moon to be adding ‘April Heather’, ‘Cupcake’, ‘Irish D. Porter’, and ‘Bloomquist Tory P’.
More recently, you’ve started breeding dahlias. What are you looking for? Have you bred and cultivated any Floret originals?
My goal with our dahlia breeding program is to create varieties specifically for flower arranging. Most of the varieties that are being bred currently are destined for competitions and the show bench, which requires that they be perfectly uniform and fit a very specific set of grading criteria. In my experience, perfection and uniformity are not desirable traits when it comes to floral design. Instead flower arrangers are looking for unique coloring, long stems, and a delicate appearance. So I am focusing a tremendous amount of effort into this project in hopes of creating more beautiful options for gardeners, farmers, and flower arrangers.
Your first book was about growing cut flowers, the second was about designing with locally and homegrown seasonal blooms, and now you’ve created a book about dahlias. What’s next?
Looking to the future, I am most excited about the breeding projects taking place here on our farm. In addition to dahlias, I am also working on creating a line of designer zinnias and celosia that will thrive in almost every climate, including those that are hot and dry. These new selections, in a wide range of shapes, sizes, and colors, will fill a long-standing gap in the floral industry. Alongside the breeding projects we will be expanding our focus on education. Each fall we offer the Floret Online Workshop, our six-week, video-based course all about growing flowers on a small scale. And every year we expand our offerings of free resources and educational programs to help flower lovers grow the gardens of their dreams. With all that has happened over the past year, I am more dedicated than ever to sharing all that I’ve learned with fellow farmers, gardeners, and flower lovers around the world.
All images: ©Floret Flower LLC / photographer: Chris Benzakein
