HS Alliance
Members of the Alliance Garden Club recently visited a dahlia garden in Deerfield.
Randy and Kathy Foith have been growing dahlias there for 24 years and exhibiting there for 19.
Throughout the August 10 tour, members learned how to start, benching (a process of placing tubers in a tray of sandy soil and adding a heat source under the tray), buying, to plant, to top, to cut and to store. They also learned disbudding. Although dahlias grow very well on their own, a little pinch will give you a stronger, bushier plant with more flowers.
The dahlias weren’t the only attraction. Beautiful trumpet plants adorned the four corners. A row of crocosmia, also known as Lucifer, lined the back.
The Foiths have already caught the public’s attention. If you google Randy and Kathy Foith’s Dahlia Gardens, check out an article from the Dahlia Society of Ohio titled “Foiths Never Disappoint”.
After the tour, club members and the Foiths had lunch at Ben’s restaurant in central Berlin. During lunch, a group meeting took place. The discussion included maintenance of the main entrance to Silver Park, the 9/11 Memorial Garden and the Blue Star Memorial at Deer Creek Reservoir in Lexington Township. Other topics were environmental awareness, birds and butterflies and the group’s upcoming preparation for the Christmas tree decorations that will be made to adorn the tree in the children’s section at the Rodman Public Library. and at the Canton Garden Center’s Holly Pine Lane.
Those interested in joining the Alliance Garden Club should contact President Cheri Myers at 330-935-2996. The club will then meet at 6 p.m. on September 14 at Silver Park’s Log Cabin. The meeting will include a potluck and a demonstration of how to make ornaments for the club’s Christmas trees.