In the dark of morning, as the sunrise glow slowly embraced the landscape, a group of volunteers carefully worked with Ron Mitchell to select the best of the best Dahlias for the weekends 2021 Annual Colorado Dahlia Society Show at The Flower Bin in Longmont. Ron has competed for the past seven years, entering his Nederland grown Dahlias into the well-attended competition. This year was the perfect combination of weather, the rain, the sun, and the temperatures proved beneficial to the Nederland Dahlia harvest.

As runners lined up for the TEENS, Inc Ned-Ned race, Ron and team were feverously assessing, cutting and carefully placing selected Dahlias into water buckets for transport to Longmont, aiming to leave Town before roads became impassable by the upcoming race. The Dahlias live in three main gardens throughout the Town of Nederland. Gathering these precious specimens took time with the volunteer team dividing up to tackle each area. With minutes to spare before the Ned Ned race, SUCCESS, the Dahlias were loaded into the truck and headed down the hill to meet the Judges.

This year Ron was thrilled and proud of the competition outcome, winning the Amateur Show Grand Prize; along with First Place awards for the Princess and King Dahlia’s, and second place awards for other Nederland Dahlias. A season of caring for his beloved Dahlias paid off, not only producing award winning flowers, but fulfilling dreams of being recognized for raising these exquisite, unique flowers so many have come to appreciate across the globe. Now it’s time to start planning for next year, hopeful 2022 will be as fruitful.

So, as you walk around Town, we hope you’ll enjoy these amazingly unique, award-winning flowers Ron Mitchell has poured much love into for all to enjoy.