One Woman Revival

Hopefully the first post of many.

I was on the hunt for dahlias. Born of tubers, similar to bulbs as for tulips, dahlias hibernate through the winter and bloom as intricate flowers in an array of colors. Last fall, I stumbled upon the Dahlia Dell in Golden Gate Park. It’s right in front of the conservatory of flowers but you would almost miss it unless you take the steps down the left side to a small gated patch. There you can see the stalks of dahlias stand to attention, bright and open but also bizarre. In some their geometric petals layered onto of each other created a kaleidoscope effect while others seemed like they should be populating the background of a Dr. Seuss book. I peered inside one, wondering if I would hear a Who call out to me. But only saw an industrious bee burrowing its way between the petals. 

While I had no experience growing flowers from scratch, I was maintaining a vivacious philodendron and an unexpectedly prolific orchid. I had nurtured a knee height fiddle leaf fig that had grown taller than me but somehow my succulents always perished. Despite my mixed results, I decided to give dahlia planting a try. A few calls to plant nurseries around SF led to me to Flowercraft Garden Center off of Bayshore Blvd. I noticed on the map that they were right around the corner from a Lowe’s. I had recently re-watched “You’ve Got Mail” for probably the 86^th time and was reminded of how the local bookstore could not hold on in the vicinity of Fox Books, a thinly veiled Borders or Barnes and Noble equivalent. Of course, the epilogue to that movie could be how Fox Books eventually was shut down due to an internet megastore. Joe Fox (Tom Hanks’ character) would have to sail off on his yacht, maybe get shipwrecked and then be in the storyline for Castaway. But my point being, that we are now 27 years out from “You’ve Got Mail” and maybe finally realizing the value and wisdom of small local businesses. 

I avoided the Lowe’s, but first stopped at Flora Grubb Gardens nearby which I would characterize as “hipster” complete with a gift shop selling t-shirts and hats. And while they touted tall palms and natal banana trees, they did not have any dahlia tubers in stock so I made my way to Flowercraft. As I pulled into the side street where they were located, it was strewn the trash and I felt some trepidation. I had to pry open their sliding gate and a stern sign commanded that I close it behind me. But once inside I found the staff to be down to earth (pardon the pun) people who just wanted to help their fellow gardeners. I was directed to the tubers and cost-effective potting soil, as well as given a care sheet for bulbs in general. I found a wooden planter box and decided to start with just two dahlia tubers as they needed both soil depth and space from each other to grow. One of the employees helped me load up my car and sent me on my way with the warm invite to “Visit again soon”. Five stars, will do!