With her Lumix camera in hand, Lana Ng carefully leaned over the table, her focus unswayed by the crowds shuffling around her. She closed one eye, steadied her lens and got just the right shot: a tiny black ant nearly tucked away in the long, elegant, softly pointed petals of a white dahlia.
It was just how she wanted to spend her 11th birthday.
“You have to do something special for your birthday, right?” she said. “So I thought maybe we should come here.”
Here, of course, was the Annual Dahlia Show and Competition at the County Fair Building in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. The two-day event, hosted by the San Francisco chapter of the Dahlia Society of California, featured more than a thousand flowers, clustered in displays along long tables for the public to enjoy.
A couple months ago, Lana and her family had seen the Dahlia Dell in Golden Gate Park, a small, fenced-in garden dedicated to the bloom near the Conservatory of Flowers, she explained. There, the budding photographer had gotten a photo of an orange ball-shaped dahlia, with the colors of the rest of the garden just visible in the background. That photo inspired her to want to come to the annual show, where she could capture more photos of the spectacular flower.
While she zeroed in on her favorite – the classic ball shape – her sister Reya, 12, had taken to examining the back of the dahlias, where green stems gave way to a burst of color.
Hundreds of dahlia admirers attend the Annual Dahlia Show and Competition at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, marking the 100th anniversary of the dahlia being named San Francisco’s official flower. The show, which concludes Sunday, is expected to attract thousands of people. (Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle)
“I really like the contrast,” Reya explained, flipping through photos she’d taken on an iPhone.
“All the flowers are just so pretty,” Lana said, before darting off for a few more photos.
This year was special not just for Lana, but for the dahlia itself – 100 years ago, the eye-catching bloom was named the official flower of San Francisco by the Board of Supervisors and Mayor James Rolph.
The Skip to My Lou dahlia is displayed during the Annual Dahlia Show and Competition at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. (Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle)
Erik Gaensler, the president of the Dahlia Society, explained that the flower, which starts as a tuber resembling a fingerling potato, thrived in the sand dunes in the “outside lands” that now make up the Sunset and Richmond districts, leading to its designation as the official city flower.
The proclamation declaring the dahlia the city’s flower highlighted how the bloom embodied San Francisco.
“WHEREAS, in its versatility, its beauty, its infinite variety of color and form, it is the very symbol of San Francisco life and of the spirit of her people,” it read.
From left: Anita Sparks and Paula Jaffe, with the Dahlia Society of California, are joined by Iris Wallace of with the Monterey Bay Dahlia Society as they judge entries at the competition. (Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle)
Judging by the hundreds of spectators rolling through the County Fair Building on Saturday – thousands were expected over the weekend – the dahlia hold remains strong. In fact, Gaensler said he asked Mayor Daniel Lurie whether the dahlia could retain its title for another hundred years.
Annual Dahlia Show and Competition
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Golden Gate Park, County Fair Building, 1199 Ninth Ave., S.F. Free. sfdahlias.org/annual-dahlia-show
“He said yes!” Gaensler said, with a chuckle.
Dahlia enthusiasts ranging from novices to seasoned hobbyists entered their best blooms into the show Saturday, where they’d be judged, within their category, based on form and color – how even the color was, how well each bloom conformed to its desired shape.
The public was welcome to take in the beauty of the various forms of dahlias, while judges, using a guidebook for judging criteria, ranked each within their specific category for size, form and color. On Sunday, the best in show will be presented.
Karen Lewis of Oakland wears a daisy sweater at the dahlia competition because, she said, she thought “it was appropriate for the show.” Lewis, who heard about the dahlia show on social media, attended Saturday for the first time. “I’ve got to come see this because I love flowers,” she said. (Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle)
Karen Lewis of Oakland came to the show sporting a brightly colored sweater with a large daisy in the middle – a choice, she said, that “felt appropriate” for the occasion. While she’s lived in the Bay Area for 20 years, it was her first time at the dahlia show, and she was dazzled.
“These are all fantastic,” she said. Her favorites, however, were the darkest, burgundy flowers. “That color just sucks you in. It’s kind of like velvet,” she said. “You can just stand in front of each one for a long time.”
Married couple Hyemyoung Kim and Hermann Diederich of Woodside were similarly impressed, particularly with the variety of shapes and sizes of dahlias that were on display – a range, Kim said, that was more than she ever could have imagined.
Architects Hermann Diederich and Hyemyoung Kim of Woodside check out dahlias at the San Francisco show. “This is incredible, just mind-blowing,” said Kim, attending the event for the first time with her husband. “It’s way over my imagination.” (Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle)
“This is incredible. Just mind-blowing,” she said as she gazed around the room. In addition to the most recognizable ball shape, there were “cactus”-shaped dahlias, with spiky petals reaching forward, to twisty, more relaxed novelty blooms. They ranged in size from that of a half-dollar coin to a basketball, with colors from yellow to purple to red with white edges.
“To see people spending this much time and effort for this kind of beauty is just so heartwarming,” she said.
Indeed, growing dahlias, particularly of competition quality, is no easy feat, explained Jenna Kaiser, a dahlia ambassador of the society. They require the right climate, the right soil, the right watering cadence and the right care to keep them thriving and free of pests and disease. She has 16 of her own at home, but hadn’t quite been able to keep them free of powdery white mildew. To get a near perfect blossom, she said, is a labor of love.
A red velvet dahlia is displayed during the show, which celebrates the dahlia’s 100th anniversary as San Francisco’s official flower. (Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle)
“There’s lots of different techniques, you can go down a lot of rabbit holes,” she said. “And (the exhibitors) all have.”
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This article originally published at ‘Just mind-blowing’: S.F.’s official flower celebrates 100th anniversary with dazzling color.