Dahlia Legacy Project

In Process

Steve and Sandy Boley

2020 Nominees

Federation of Northwest Dahlia Growers Hall of Fame

When Steve bought a house in Seattle in the late 1980s it came complete with dahlias. After his marriage to Sandy, a Master Florist, the transition to dahlia fanatics was somehow inevitable. And then they joined the Puget Sound Dahlia Association and things quickly got out of hand.

They purchased five acres of land near Ferndale, Washington in 1995 so they could grow more dahlias — and since they both worked in the Seattle area, commuted to their dahlia farm (100 miles one way) on weekends. While they both enjoyed exhibiting dahlias, they soon discovered that dahlia hybridization was challenging and rewarding.

Not content to simply gather seeds and see what happened, they delved into color theory, dahlia hybridization assumptions, and dahlia growth habits. They learned that much dahlia “knowledge” was merely old wives’ tales passed down through the ages. They set out to rewrite the book.

Inveterate investigators, they read everything about dahlia hybridization they could get their hands on and talked to those having success – both in the US and overseas. They

experimented and they wrote. Soon Dahlias of Today was blessed with articles from Steve and Sandy about dahlia genetics, dahlia hybridization, and seedling selection.

Steve was employed in sales while the couple was living in Seattle. This gave him less time to devote to dahlia hybridization — that is, until they purchased the Ferndale property and began to raise more dahlias there. Initially, the Boleys focused on pompon hybridization, a form they thought could use some new variety. But soon they found success with waterlily dahlias, beginning with Sandia Shomei. Then again, they found success with miniature ball dahlias like SB’s Sunny and Ms Kennedy. Their breeding success rests on a determined plan to isolate seed parents by planting candidates in separate plots at some distance from each other.

The Boleys transitioned through the Federation judging program and became respected senior judges. They were soon tapped to help teach and are currently instructors of the Federation’s accredited to senior classes. In addition, they have presented at numerous Federation workshops through the years.

When Dahlias of Today editors decided to run a series articles, each focused on judging a certain type of dahlia, Steve and Sandy were tapped to write the first in the series – on judging anemone dahlias. That article has become the model for all following in the series – and the Boleys have continued to contribute (for instance, see “Judging Ball, Miniature Ball, and Pompon Dahlias” in Dahlias of Today 2019.)

But wait, there’s more. Sandy noticed that many Federation clubs were having trouble lining up garden club judges to evaluate the arrangement sections at their shows. As a result, many clubs were calling on Federation members to judge the arrangements – with varying degrees of reliability. Master Florist Sandy came up with an arrangement scoresheet to guide Federation judges inexperienced with the nuances of arrangement creation and judging. She also volunteered to guide arrangement teams at shows, taking one or two inexperienced judges under her wings at each show and mentoring them. Scoresheets by Sandy quickly followed for floating dahlias and vases.

The Puget Sound Dahlia Association decades ago shamelessly “borrowed” the idea of a seedling challenge from the Washington State Dahlia Society. Seedling are sold for $1 each at the May meeting; the results are displayed at the September meeting with prizes for the best (and worst) examples. Early on, the seedlings offered were nothing special – just random leftovers. Then Steve and Sandy took over. From that point forward, each year’s offerings are based on seeds from carefully selected seed parents. For example, there have been anemone, waterlily, novelty, and (in 2020) orchette dahlias. And there have been some commendable introductions from growers who otherwise would not be growing seedlings. While no longer home members of PSDA, the Boleys still support the seedling challenge by donating the seed and volunteering to travel 200 miles to judge the entries.

Steve and Sandy have supported the Federation in many ways, including as Federation representatives for their local clubs. Steve served as a PSDA trustee for a dozen years including time as Federation rep. Then when the Boleys moved to Sumas, Washington to be near their five-acre dahlia farm, they became part of the Whatcom County Dahlia Society leadership team; Steve is currently serving as president and Federation representative, Sandy as vice president.

Judges, teachers, writers, hybridizers, presenters, innovators: Steve and Sandy Boley have served the Federation in many ways. They serve the dahlia well with their many introductions, their leadership, and their research. The Boleys are certainly qualified to become members of the Federation of Northwest Dahlia Growers hall of fame.

Cultivar	Size	Form	Color	Color Description	Orig	Cnty	Year
AUNT RUTH	BB	IC	OR		BOL-	US	98
BARBERPOLE		AN	BI	RD11/WH3/yl	BOL-	US	12*
CISCO	BB	ID	V	WH2/RD7	BOL-	US	10
DANNY BOY	M	FD	V	DP21/DR6	BOL-	US	15
IRISH BLACKBERRY		BA	PR	PR28	BOL-	US	05
IRISH BLACKHART		ST	BI	DR3/WH1	BOL-	US	14
IRISH BLUSH		P	PK	PK23	BOL-	US	16
IRISH CANDY		MB	PK	PK17	BOL-	US	20
IRISH D PORTER		P	PK	PK17	BOL-	US	19
IRISH DELIGHT		MB	Y	YL9	BOL-	US	21
IRISH EMBERS		P	FL	RD22/YL12	BOL-	US	08
IRISH GEM		MB	PR		BOL-	US	04
IRISH GLOW		P	R	RD18	BOL-	US	12
IRISH GNOME	MC	FD	Y	YL12	BOL-	US	23
IRISH IMP		P	L	LV11	BOL-	US	09
IRISH JD		MB	W	WH2	BOL-	US	22
IRISH MISS		P	DB	PR25/WH4	BOL-	US	05
IRISH PINWHEEL		ST	FL	YL11/RD10	BOL-	US	08
IRISH RUFFLES	BB	ID	W		BOL-	US	15*
IRISH SPECKLES		P	V	PK17/PR24	BOL-	US	07
IRISH SPICE		MB	R	RD23	BOL-	US	18
IRISH_GNOME	MC	FD	Y	YL12	BOL-	US	23
JUMP START		AN	DR	DR12/dr12	BOL-	US	17*
MS BRODIE	BB	LC	OR	OR23	BOL-	US	11
MS BUBBLES		ST	BI	PK/W	BOL-	US	14*
MS JULIE		ST	BI	RD23/WH3	BOL-	US	07
MS KENNEDY		MB	OR	OR23	BOL-	US	06
MS LISA	BB	ID	LB	OR10/YL23	BOL-	US	14
MS PRISSY		ST	DR	DR3	BOL-	US	08
MS SCARLETT		MB	R	RD10	BOL-	US	13
MS SHANNON	BB	C	DP	DP14	BOL-	US	12
MS TERRY		NX	PR	PR28/[PK17]	BOL-	US	20
MS. ZELDA		BA	V	WH3/PR25	BOL-	US	08
NORTHLAKE HERITAGE	B	LC	Y	YL4	BOL-	US	07
SANDIA APACHE	BB	C	BI	RD21/WH4	BOL-	US	11*
SANDIA BILL J		AN	R	RD12/fl/rd2/yl15	BOL-	US	16
SANDIA BROCADE		AN	OR	OR7/or7	BOL-	US	16
SANDIA CALYPSO		WL	DB	DP/Y	BOL-	US	03
SANDIA CANCAN		WL	V	LV13/PR26	BOL-	US	23
SANDIA CANDY CORN		WL	BI	BR5/WH1	BOL-	US	14
SANDIA CHARM		WL	LB	PK15/YL10	BOL-	US	11
SANDIA COMANCHE	BB	LC	FL	RD11/YL11	BOL-	US	13
SANDIA CORAL	B	LC	R		BOL-	US	98
SANDIA ECHO	BB	SC	LB	PK13/YL18	BOL-	US	12
SANDIA FANCY DANCER	B	LC	FL		BOL-	US	00
SANDIA FLIRT		WL	L	LV9/LV10	BOL-	US	11
SANDIA FLUFFY	A	ID	Y	YL11	BOL-	US	21
SANDIA GARNET		AN	DR	DR3/dr12	BOL-	US	19
SANDIA GOLD		WL	Y	YL11	BOL-	US	22
SANDIA ICICLE	B	IC	W	WH6	BOL-	US	21
SANDIA ISA		WL	W	WH2	BOL-	US	19
SANDIA JOY		WL	Y	YL10	BOL-	US	06
SANDIA MARGE	BB	C	BR	BR15	BOL-	US	09
SANDIA MELODY		WL	LB	LV7/WH2	BOL-	US	07
SANDIA NOCTOURNE		WL	PR	PR26	BOL-	US	23
SANDIA PANAMA		AN	DB	DR3/WH7/yl24	BOL-	US	18
SANDIA POUFFE		AN	DP	DP11/lb/pk23/yl18	BOL-	US	17
SANDIA ROJO	BB	LC	DR		BOL-	US	04
SANDIA ROSE		WL	DP	DP20	BOL-	US	11*
SANDIA SERENITY		WL	Y	YL2	BOL-	US	06
SANDIA SHOMEI		WL	L	LV8	BOL-	US	01
SANDIA SHOWBOAT		WL	Y	YL4/YL2	BOL-	US	01
SANDIA STARGAZER	A	SC	LB	PK18/WH3	BOL-	US	22
SANDIA SUMMERTIME		AN	W	WH1/yl21	BOL-	US	22
SANDIA SUNBONNET		AN	Y	YL11/yl20	BOL-	US	15
SANDIA SUNCATCHER	B	LC	V	YL12/RD9	BOL-	US	15
SANDIA SUSAN		WL	OR	OR4	BOL-	US	17
SANDIA TIGER	A	SC	V	OR14/RD10	BOL-	US	08
SANDIA WARBONNET	B	LC	BI	RD11/WH3	BOL-	US	14
SANDIA WENATCHEE	BB	LC	PR	PR14	BOL-	US	18
SB’s BECKY	M	FD	PR		BOL-	US	02*
SB’S BUTTERCREAM		OT	W	WH2/wh2	BOL-	US	23
SB’s DANDY		P	PR		BOL-	US	03
SB’s FIESTA	BB	FD	V	Y/R	BOL-	US	02
SB’s FLECK		BA	V	L/W	BOL-	US	99
SB’S LEMON FLECK	BB	FD	V	YL11/RD24	BOL-	US	07
SB’S ORA		BA	Y	YL18	BOL-	US	22
SB’S ORA		BA	Y	YL18	BOL-	US	22
SB’S RED BARON		OT	PR	PR26/dp13-lb/pk20/dp19	BOL-	US	21
SB’s SUNNY		MB	Y	YL11	BOL-	US	04
SB’s TEMPTRESS		MB	DR		BOL-	US	03
SB’s ZELDA LEIGH		MB	V	PR/W	BOL-	US	03
SHARKY		BA	BI	PR28/WH1	BOL-	US	05
SIR RICHARD		MB	DP	DP21	BOL-	US	09
TIGGER	BB	SC	BI	OR2/WH1	BOL-	US	07