Dahlia-growers from 7 states displaying blooms in annual show this weekend at Fellows

YOUNGSTOWN

When Rodney Toth was given a set of tubers about 24 years ago, he was hooked.

“I have to blame that on someone else,” the Hubbard man said with laughter.

Toth was referring to the start of his passion for dahlias, which are tuberous-rooted perennial plants in the daisy family that are cultivated for brightly-colored flower blooms.

Toth’s red dahlia is one of more than 1,200 such plants that fill Fellow Riverside Gardens’ D.D. and Velma Davis Education & Visitor Center’s basement for the annual Midwest Dahlia Conference Show, which features local growers and those from seven states.

The Mahoning Valley Dahlia Society is hosting the two-day gathering, which continues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the visitor center, 123 McKinley Ave., off Mahoning Avenue, near downtown.

The 12-year-old MVDS strives to encourage interest in and a greater understanding of the plants, and is affiliated with the American Dahlia Society, its mission statement says.

The show also is in memory of Carl Chuey, a MVDS founder and member. In addition, he was a 47-year Youngstown State University biology professor who died in April.

Chuey and his brother, Jim Chuey, were concerned about the effects of viruses on the plants. The brothers worked together to hybridize a single dahlia they called Marcella Louise after their mother, Marcella Louise Scheetz Chuey.

Read more about the show and growing dahlias in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.