Any West Chester-area gardener with a blooming dahlia can walk into Longwood Gardens in September and compete alongside seasoned exhibitors. No sign-up required.
The Greater Philadelphia Dahlia Society's annual show returns to Longwood's Ballroom on Saturday, Sept. 12, and Sunday, Sept. 13. The event is free with regular Longwood Gardens admission, and timed tickets are required.
Saturday hours run 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday hours run 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
What makes this show unusual: there is no advance registration, no entry fee and no membership requirement. The society provides exhibition containers. Exhibitors need only bring freshly cut dahlias with at least one pair of leaves attached.
Sharon Richardson, a West Chester dahlia grower who wrote the show announcement for the Master Gardeners, described falling in love with dahlias more than a decade ago after buying just three tubers at the society's annual sale outside Longwood's Visitor Center.
"Those three plants sparked a passion that continues today," Richardson wrote in an announcement published in Pam Baxter's Daily Local News gardening column on Aug. 12. "With their extraordinary range of forms, sizes, and colors, dahlias have a way of captivating almost everyone who grows them."
The competitive show features Novice/Small Grower classes built for first-time exhibitors. Experienced society members staff the staging area to help newcomers groom blooms and place entries correctly.
The American Dahlia Society recognizes 15 colors, 21 flower forms and six sizes, according to Longwood's event listing. Varieties range from 10-inch dinner-plate giants to 2-inch pompons, and dahlias appear in nearly every color except true blue.
The Greater Philadelphia Dahlia Society, a nonprofit founded in 1948, will also host the 2028 American Dahlia Society National Show at Longwood Gardens. Its next local event after the September show is a Fall Quarterly Meeting on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Longwood's Visitor's Center Auditorium from 10 a.m. to noon.
Full exhibition details and the show schedule are posted at philadahlia.org/events.html.
Coming up
- Sept. 12–13 — Greater Philadelphia Dahlia Society Annual Show, Longwood Gardens Ballroom, Kennett Square. Free with admission; timed tickets required.
- Sept. 13 — Chester County Library Sign Up Fest with Touch-a-Truck and free ice cream.
- Nov. 7 — GPDS Fall Quarterly Meeting, Longwood Gardens Visitor's Center Auditorium, 10 a.m.–noon.
