Today was the annual sale of the San Francisco Dahlia Society. Each winter they dig up all the tubers in the massive Dahlia garden near the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate park. Excess (and there's a lot of excess!) are sold off in a fund-raiser, held in a neighborhood rec center.
The event started at 9, so I thought I'd show up at 9-ish and beat the rush.
Wrong. At 9 am there was a line snaking and snaking -- hundreds of yards of folks drooling to get in. I dutifully took my place, and compared wish lists with my neighbors. I was hoping to get "Porcelain" -- a white water-lily type Dahlia.
The line sucked into the rec center quickly enough. But, swarms of gardeners clogged the spaces between the tables. By the time I found the box labeled "Porcelain" all the tubers were gone.
I emerged with two tubers of "Bishop of Llada," a deep red Peony-type. I also scooped up a few baby plants of water lily-types -- a white "Cameo" and two pale yellow "Angel's Dust." Five prime Dahlias. I had only one small bruise from a short dark-haired woman who elbowed me aside to beat me to the "mini cactus" table. This is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day sale I've always avoided.
But then came the final suffering -- not enough room in the garden. I squeezed a few in here and there, but am just running out of room. Briggs, do you like Dahlias?
Posted by rich at April 5, 2003 5:19 PM