I first fell in love with dahlias in 2013. We were on a mini-sabbatical in Paris where we had rented an apartment for five weeks. One day, I saw a poster for a mushroom festival in Parc Floral, and I thought, “I bet Chad would enjoy that.” Parc Floral is in the southeast area of Paris on the edge of the city. The mushroom festival was cool, of course, with specimens on display that had been foraged by amateur mushroom gatherers from around the country. Parc Floral had much more to offer, however, including a bonsai tree collection and an international dahlia competition. The dahlias were planted directly in one area of the park, and I was fascinated with all of the different varieties. Chad went back to the park a second time specifically to photograph these flowers. We now have a large print of one of his photos hanging in our house.

This weekend was the annual Georgia Dahlia Show showcasing hundreds of dahlias grown and cultivated by members of the Dahlia Society of Georgia, and it did not disappoint. What is quite astonishing to me is that dahlias come in a great variety of shapes, sizes and colors. It’s hard to believe that some of these flowers are even related to each other.

The dahlia show is a judged competition, and the flowers are organized by variety and size. Categories include Anemone, Waterlily, Pompom, Stellar, Collarette, Orchid, Micro Peony, Micro Waterlily, Mignon Single, Orchette, and Ball. When the category references another type of flower such as Waterlily, Peony, or Orchid, it is because that particular variety of dahlia looks like another type of flower. It really is quite fascinating how different all of the dahlias can look.

I took photos of most of the winners. Here are a few:

Honestly, most of the flowers in the room had a first or second place ribbon, even those not assembled on the winners tables. This somehow made perfect sense to me since I think all dahlias are beautiful and are winners in themselves!