Cultivating flower power: Hope blooms in floriculture competition at Northwest Montana Fair and Rodeo

Pinelands princess. Thomas Edison. Noit de ete. Manor Jubilee.

These are just a few of the tens of thousands of varieties listed in the American Dahlia Society’s “Composite Listing of Dahlias.” These flowers are unpredictable and exotic, known to excite a passion that courses through the hearts of the members of the Montana Dahlia Society, a local chapter of the American Dahlia Society in Northwest Montana.

Every year, members participate in judging the dahlias/gladiolus and floriculture competition at the Northwest Montana Fair and Rodeo. Beginning Friday morning, passersby at the Flathead County Fairgrounds could admire a dazzling array of flowers.

Some petals were large and soft, while others budded in a honeycomb pattern. Several flowers featured a spectacle of brilliant pastels. Ot