Dunlap, Tenn., retiree Rose Newsom has “just a few dahlias.”

“I don’t grow as many as most people do,” said Mrs. Newsom on a recent tour of her 5-acre home. “I only have 130.”

The dahlia, a Central and South American native, has an unusual genetic ability to transform into literally thousands of shapes, sizes, colors and textures.

Staff Photo by Gillian Bolsover
Rose Newsom tends to her dahlias in the garden of her Dunlap home Thursday. Ms. Newsom has two beds of dahlias.

Those genetics have been exploited in recent decades by dahlia lovers and adventurous breeders.

“There are literally thousands to choose from,” according to Taylor’s Encyclopedia of Garden Plants by Frances Tenenbaum.

Her sister and fellow members of the Tennessee Dahlia Society have as many as 600 plants, representing nearly as many varieties, Mrs. Newsom said.

A retired general manager for Vandenberg wholesale flower company in Howell, Mich., Mrs. Newsom and her husband, John, found their way to Dunlap one day when one of their motorcycles broke down.

“People here were so friendly. So we rented a car and went looking for property. On our last day here, we found this house and bought it. Then we went back to Michigan, sold our house and retired.”

The dahlia garden was cut into a large expanse of grass about two years ago.

“I weed-whack the grass, then (apply) Roundup (herbicide) in fall. In spring, I (apply) Roundup again, then roto-till. When I plant, I mound the soil up and plant the tubers above the ground. Then I add 2 inches of soil on top — or more, depending on the size of the tuber. I fertilize with a slow-release fertilizer when planting, putting a handful in the hole and broadcast fertilizer on top.

Mrs. Newsom stakes the plants about 2 feet apart in rows about 4 feet apart.

“My husband makes my rows close enough together so I can sit on a 5-gallon bucket and work both sides,” Mrs. Newsom said.

Staff Photo by Gillian Bolsover
Brandy Bay was the Tennessee Dahlia Society’s flower of the year.

She waters about twice a week, unless clouds provide steady rain.

In the past, East Tennessee gardeners were required to dig up dahlia tubers each winter to store them indoors.

Recent winters have been so consistently warm, division in most locations is no longer necessary. Mountain residents with colder microclimates may still need to take these precautions, Dahlia Society members advise.

At her home along the Sequatchie River, conditions allow year-round in-the-ground plants, Mrs. Newsom said.

But she still digs tubers, she said.

Each spring Tennessee Dahlia Society members sell their favorites at the Chattanooga Market (check the Society’s Web site in spring for times and dates).

And of course, trades have been known to take place at the monthly meetings, held on the third Thursday of the month at Wally’s Restaurant in East Ridge.

The only risk of attending the meetings may be an ever-increasing dahlia garden.

“I was only going to grow 70 this year,” Mrs. Newsom said. “I don’t grow as many as some people, but I do have 130.”

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