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Dahlia Society hosts show
By Sean Barron
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 Fellows 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. today 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.
Toth, a former Mineral Ridge High School music teacher, brought to the show his own named dahlia, A.C. Rooster, because the red slightly-elongated, pointed and curved pedals seem to radiate from the bloom’s center and resemble a rooster’s head. At least 10 dahlias adorn his backyard garden, added Toth, who also is a member of the East Liverpool Dahlia Society.
Several rooms are filled with a variety of plants in the novice, youth, new grower and large grower categories. A panel of judges is to select the winner in each class.
About 70 of the top-finishing plants are on display in the Court of Honor. Examples include a small, deep-purple pompom, which can grow up to 2 inches in diameter; a variety with three identical pink blooms and a similar one with five; and a semi-cactus type with five blooms of varying orange shades that’s about 12 inches in diameter.
“I saw them and said to my husband, ‘I want to do that,’ so we got involved,” Joyce Habeger, the MVDS secretary, said about her introduction to the plants at a show about 13 years ago.
The local gathering has at least 20 varieties of dahlias, some of which can grow to 14 inches across. All are grown outdoors, not in greenhouses, Habeger continued, adding that the society sponsors tuber and plant sales every April and May, respectively.
Dahlias’ popularity also is increasing, and it is hoped that more people will come to such shows, partly because dahlias are neither expensive nor complicated to grow, Jim Chuey explained.
“We want more people to get involved in this,” he said. “There’s no limit to what they can do if they follow a few simple guidelines.”
Also assisting with the event are Sharon Mika, a MVDS co-founder, and Harriet Chandler, show chairwoman.
The society meets at 2 p.m. the second Sunday of each month at the Davis Center. For more information, call Chandler at 330-550-6342, or go to www.mahoningvalleydahliasociety.org.