About us…

Ten years ago, we began the ardent search for a new home.  A place where we could grow our family, a place with plenty of space for animals and crops and gardens, a place to love and grow old.  In 2013 we packed up and moved from Colorado to Oregon.  Our new home had just over 35 acres, albeit filled with left over and overgrown Christmas trees, but there was so much space and tons to discover.  The first discovery – Projects – and lots of them.  That is the biggest thing that I have learned, owning a farm is – Never. Ending. Projects.  The endless to-do list began immediately – from learning how to winterize wells and outbuildings to selling tree boughs for Christmas wreaths.  Some projects, although lots of work, are also enjoyable and just good for the soul. One of my favorite projects was starting a garden with my daughter.  Our secluded rural property was spacious and quiet, unlike our previous urban location, and we had ample space to plant as many varieties as our hearts desired.  It was a great way for me to spend time together with her, especially since we had just recently given her a new little sister and a lot of attention had been spent attending to a newborn.  Getting to do a project with mom gave her the attention she needed.  We planted everything…vegetables, flowers, pumpkins, loofa.  It was such a great time together.  Over the next few years we both learned how much we loved growing flowers - and learned which were our favorites; which flowers attracted the bees; and more importantly which varieties were the favorites of the deer that wandered out of the forest and into our fields – AND gobbled up our hard work.  

My daughter’s clear favorite was the strawflower… she grew so many. And over the years she isolated and collected the seed.   My clear favorite was the dahlia… like so many others it became an obsession.  I planted, I divided, then later took cuttings and collected seed.  I started researching dahlia breeding and it soon became a scientific pursuit.    I had a garden as my laboratory…  I was in heaven.  Occupationally and scholastically I was never really scientifically orientated so my new obsession was so different than anything else I had done before. Now it is just a daily routine, intertwined with everything that I do.  

I am also a very spatiality challenged individual. And in many ways it has always been somewhat comical.  I now have a better understanding of just how big a single acre really is, and that just one acre is a lot.  Sometimes it seems that is all I can physically manage.    But now, after 11 years of learning through trial and error, hard work both physical and mental, and a little bit of luck I have a lovely dahlia patch.  And on this journey I have purchased, been gifted, been given and traded to build my inventory. While at the same time I have also gifted and given away many tubers to friends and unfortunately also had to compost countless extra tubers. 

I am licensed by the State of Oregon and regularly inspect my plants for disease because it would break my heart to grow and cultivate a beloved seedling only to see it end up with a disease… I do not want that to happen.

After you purchase your tuber, if you have ANY issues, please contact me… if you get a blind tuber or a mislabeled variety, I will work with you to fix it… I am human and mistakes happen.  I will work with you to make it right.    I want everyone to love dahlias like I do… and I want you to be excited and completely satisfied with your purchase.

All photos on this site have been taken by me, with the exception of the photo below that is OF ME. That being said I am NOT a professional photographer, but I do try hard to consistently become a better photographer. It is difficult to always get an accurate portrayal of the vivid colors of these flowers. Every aspect can alter the picture; lighting, placement, subtle color changes in the petals as the season progresses and just the general contrasts from flower to flower. My photos are never enhanced and aside from a simple crop that is the only editing that I perform. Thus, sometimes photos seem to differ slightly from the amazing colors of the blooms. Pictures can only portray a portion of the total beauty of these flowers and all we can hope for is a reasonable of the array of colors these flowers display. Every season I try to upgrade my photo collection, but like all flower farmers (and mothers) know you only get a limited time to capture the blooms in that moment.

All of our dahlia plants and tubers are inspected by the State of Oregon Department of Agriculture prior to shipment to assure the quality of the product you receive.  

The Redwood Alley Farm retains the legal copyright and ownership of all images and website content. Federal copyright law protects copyright of these images. Please do not use these images without permission.