Dahlia growers bloom at Northwest Montana Fair

Two big fellas load a cart just outside the Mini Horses Barn, a tied-up Clydesdale whinnies at me, and the signs along “Hamburger Road” make their pitches, including for Blended Red Bulls and the alluring combo of funnel cakes and fried pickles.

That must fuel up the fairgoers for midway rides such as the Frenzy.  

I’m walking the grounds of the Northwest Montana Fair and Rodeo within five minutes of opening on a fresh Friday morning in mid-August, when it is strangely quiet. None of the rides are operating, and only a couple of vendors tidy their booths. 

A different kind of frenzy plays out in the low-slung green and white building labeled Floriculture, just off the main drag.

“Now, where are the ribbons?” a couple of judges ask as they rummage through boxes. 

Senior judge Kathy David sits behind a long table in a purple T-shirt and preps for action, as she has for “probably 30 years.” I ask what she likes about dahlias. 

“There has got to be a shape, color, size or whatever type of dahlia for every person,” she says. “They are so diverse.” 

When I first walked in the building a Tahiti Sunrise dahlia had stopped me in my tracks: Its lemonade yellow center sent out shards of fuchsia-tipped petals. 

The members of the Flathead branch of the Montana Dahlia Society had produced nearly 300 entries for this year’s show. The results stand on shelves along the wall in white plastic vases filled with chips of white styrofoam. Above all the white, the flowers explode into a rainbow of color. 

In a room behind the scenes, volunteers rush to prep the last flowers for judging. Even the discard pile in the garbage bin gives me a lift, brimming with orange, pink, purple and green. 

The society, the state’s first and which seeded offshoots in western Alberta and Missoula, bloomed when there were five commercial growers in the Flathead Valley. One of them, Mike Valler, is here reviewing the show and moving flowers around. He still gets his hands dirty. 

“I grow about 500 but don’t ship tubers anymore,” he says peering above the top of his glasses. The flower, native to Mexico, has some tens of thousands of varieties classified by the American Dahlia Society. 

Martin Rippens, chair of the show and whose family business had been chrysanthemums in Southern California, points out some dahlias grown in pots.  

“As we move into a tighter society with apartments and smaller spaces, you can use a patio deck for these,” he says. No need for a yard or acreage to bring such affordable delights to life. The society organizes a popular tuber sale every spring. 

Flowers deliver more than thrills. In business school, I researched elements of positive office design. Studies worldwide found that placing live plants or even cut flowers among workers sparked gains in areas such as productivity, feeling less tired, restoring attention, decreasing stress, health and job satisfaction. 

“Demand is great, there’s no lack of interest,” Rippens says, surveying the show that has a few newcomers’ dahlias in the mix. “We keep reminding everyone, we’re here to have fun.” 

Margaret E. Davis, executive director of the Northwest Montana History Museum, can be reached at mdavis@dailyinterlake.com.