Updated 2/07/2023
The first winter, half our dahlia tubers died. Dahlias had always fascinated me, with their vibrant flowers that range from tiny blooms to enormous specimens the size of soccer balls. When Bryan and I first had a garden of our own, we decided to grow these bizarre and beautiful blooms. Like most things, that turned out to be more difficult than I expected.
We still have room to improve our dahlia-growing skills, but there’s hope. The largest dahlia farm in the country is just 35 minutes’ drive from Portland. Every August and September, Swan Island Dahlias opens their dahlia fields to the public for a free festival of flowers, complete with dahlia-growing classes. In today’s post, I’ll share the highlights of the annual Swan Island Dahlia Festival and everything you need to know to visit the Oregon dahlia fields yourself.
Swan Island Dahlia Festival Highlights
We bought our dahlia tubers from Swan Island Dahlias, so going to the annual Swan Island Dahlia Festival is like returning to the dahlia Mother Ship.
At the Swan Island Dahlia Festival, visitors walk among rows and rows of luminous and delightfully unique blooms. On weekends, there’s often live music and other special events. Food carts offer tasty lunches, and families picnic next to the flower fields. Dahlia enthusiasts buy cut flowers or order tubers to grow at home. There are classes ranging from art to how to grow dahlias successfully.
The Swan Island Dahlia Festival has an aura of beauty and inspiration that I cherish and try to take back to our garden at home.
Swan Island Dahlia Festival Key Facts:
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The Swan Island Dahlia Festival is free to the public
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The festival is at Swan Island Dahlias in Canby, Oregon (Google Map here).
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In 2023, the dahlia festival fully spans August and September, but it’s closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
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The hours are 9:00 am – 5:30 pm
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The full events calendar is available here
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Check out the festival website for full details
For a video preview of the festival, check out our highlights video below!
Why are Dahlias Difficult to Grow?
The Swan Island Dahlia Festival always gives me the inspiration to persevere with our own home dahlia-growing adventure.
When we first planted the dahlia tubers, it seemed every slug on the block descended on the young shoots, possibly before they broke the soil surface. Many slug pellets later, we managed to grow several plants to maturity. Our little clump of flowering dahlias seemed a great victory.
Then winter came. The Internet advised the tubers should be dug up for the winter and packed with damp coconut coir or peat moss so they don’t shrivel up. The coir or peat moss shouldn’t be too damp, or the tubers could rot.
The dahlia tubers were then to be stored somewhere cold, but not too cold, or they’d freeze. The Internet advised labeling the dug-up tubers so it’s possible to tell them apart once they all go into a box together.
That first year, I diligently dug up all the dahlia tubers, rinsed them, and labeled them with little tags. I packed them into a box in the basement and spritzed them just slightly.
In the spring, I peered into the box with anticipation. While some tubers looked reasonably similar to what I’d put in the box that fall, most of the formerly plump tubers were now sunken and shriveled. I’d over-corrected for the rotting possibility, and not kept them damp enough. Yikes!
The second year, determined not to fail the same way, I looked for another way. The Internet advised that alternatively, it’s okay to leave dahlia tubers in the ground if you cover the area with plastic (so they don’t get too much water and rot—we’re in the Pacific Northwest, after all!), and mulch them (so they don’t freeze). I think this option only works if you live in a relatively mild climate. We definitely had more success with this approach here in Portland. Instead of losing half our tubers, we lost only one in year two. Making progress….
Other Flower Tourism Destinations in Oregon and Washington
You’ll not only find dahlia fields in Oregon, but a host of other flower farms and gardens. If you enjoy the Oregon dahlia fields, you may also enjoy visiting these other flower tourism hotspots in Oregon and Washington.
Oregon Flower Tourism:
Tulips: Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm
This tulip farm in Oregon has extensive fields of colorful tulips in spring. An annual festival, complete with food trucks and antique tractor displays, is a popular destination. Tulips bloom in early spring, when conditions are alternately sunny and rainy, so the tulip festival is sometimes very muddy. Rain or shine, it remains a beloved annual ritual for many in the Willamette Valley. Check out our Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival blog post for details.
Irises: Schreiner’s Iris Gardens
Schreiner’s Iris Gardens near Salem, Oregon has a curated display garden that features irises, but also includes displays of lupines and some of the largest columbine flowers I’ve ever seen. Seating is interspersed throughout the garden, and it’s a lovely place to settle in with a book or have a family picnic. Visitors can also check out the adjacent iris fields. Click here for our post on Schreiner’s Iris Gardens.
Sunflowers: West Union Gardens
West Union Gardens in Hillsboro, Oregon is well-known for its berries and cucumbers, but it also has stunning sunflower fields in late summer. The peak bloom window for sunflowers is shorter than for many of the other flowers in this list, so it’s key to keep an eye on the website for bloom updates. With huge flowers and a flower season in the peak of summer, the sunflower fields are my favorite for photography. Sunflower flower heads face east, so sunset photography here is particularly fabulous. Here is our sunflower fields blog post for full details.
Rhododendrons: Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden
Right next to Reed College in southeast Portland is an extensive garden of rhododendrons and azaleas in a lush lakeside setting. Paths meander among the flowers, and bridges over the waterways connect different garden sections. The peak rhododendron season in May coincides with duckling season, so you’re likely to see ducklings swimming in the ponds. Explore the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in our rhododendron garden blog post here.
Cherry Blossoms: Reed College or Portland waterfront
In March, the cherry blossoms peak in Portland, welcoming spring with tree limbs covered in pale pink flowers. Two top places to see the cherry blossoms are Reed College in southeast Portland and the waterfront in downtown Portland. Parking at Reed is free and open to the public. Check out our cherry blossoms blog post for details.
Lavender: Hood River Lavender Farms
This lavender farm in the Hood River valley is a delightfully peaceful place for a picnic. Striking views of Mount Adams are visible from the farm. Mount Hood looks so enormous from the road on the way to the farm that it seems the world has somehow been magnified. For details on Hood River Lavender Farms, check out our lavender blog post.
Washington Flower Tourism:
Tulips and Daffodils: Roozengaarde
North of Seattle, in Washington’s Skagit Valley, Roozengaarde is a top Pacific Northwest flower tourism destination. Best-known for tulips, Roozengaarde also grows beautiful fields of daffodils. Daffodils peak earlier than tulips, overlapping with the season when snow geese overwinter in massive numbers in the valley. If you’re lucky, you might catch thousands of snow geese in a daffodil field! We haven’t seen them together, but we’ve seen thousands of snow geese just a few minutes’ drive from the daffodil fields!
Other Adventures in the Pacific Northwest
Thanks for joining us at Swan Island Dahlias! For more adventure ideas in the Pacific Northwest, check out our PNW Trip Planner. You can find adventures near you and filter by season and difficulty level. There are weird and wonderful things to explore any time of year. The trip planner links to blog posts to help you plan your next adventure.
Happy exploring!
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