To say I am overwhelmed with gratitude is an understatement.

Having been in this dahlia community 6 years now I have met some super cool people, some ultra fascinating people, and yup, even some really shitty people.

This post is about one lady that I already knew was an awesome, kind and unselfish human, today though…. she got upgraded with the title of a ‘One in a Million’ human in my book.

Teresa from @thebumblebeesgarden is a force to be reckoned with. A straight shooter, no bullshit person you want to have in your corner. You never have to question her actions or how authentic she is, her word means something. A rarity these days.

I’ve always felt blessed to call her a friend.

A week or so back, she told me she had some extra tubers for me, from a local and well loved & respected dahlia hybridizer, Trevor Hoff of @cablebaydahlias. I already grow some of his cultivars and they always produced strong, healthy plants, with very stunning blooms. Trevor, last year gifted Teresa his entire collection due to his plans of a major dahlia hiatus, with what shocked many in our vastly growing dahlia bubble, perhaps being done with it all for good. He was stopping his breeding program, indefinitely.

She got to it, working her ass off harvesting everything, then the oh so fun and time consuming task of dividing the stock, all while dealing with her own dahlia collection at home all winter long.

Little did I know what was traveling by ferry this morning with her would change my entire planting goals for this season at our new 13 acre farm we’re moving to next month. This ‘One in a Million’ human brought the entire collection and gifted it to us!

Crates full of loose tubers branded with mysterious coded names, countless bundles of tubers of widely sought after dahlias I’ve searched to acquire over the last few years, as well as tons of unnamed / unreleased seedlings.

I am in awe.
I am excited.
I am thankful.

I was planning on finishing planting my own stock of tubers, roughly 600 varieties or so (it honesty feels never-ending!) and now, with what are surely hundreds more that I need to document, log into the database, tag and fill pots to then plant them in, I have my hands extra full. July will be interesting!

Teresa told me I’d hate her once I dove into it all… no friend, I assure you, while I didn’t think I could adore you more than I already did, you made that happen this morning. Thank you for being my friend first, but also thank you for entrusting me with this huge blessing, thank you for believing in me, thank you for being YOU.

So, if you are new to or previously cemented into the lovely world of dahlias and you’ve encountered some people that may have disheartened you, or perhaps have taken a little joy from your love of these beautiful flowers… hang tight, you’ll find your Teresa soon enough, I promise.

I cannot wait to grow these special gems and help get them around Canada for 2026!