As a dahlia grower, I'm accustomed to working hard to achieve those beautiful blooms each summer and well into fall. But I've been a strictly traditional dahlia grower, planting tubers each year with the knowledge of exactly what flowers I would get the next growing season. 

But what if I planted dahlia seeds? 

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NOTE: I am writing this as a gardener in Zone 5b (or 6a depending on what Hardiness Zone map you refer to). In other words, the steps I share here are based upon the weather conditions found in my locale. Be sure to take note of your Zone and look up what's best for dahlia tubers/seeds where you live. (The main differences will be the date to plant and the date {if any} to dig up.)   

In addition, I am not professing to be an expert on dahlia gardening. It's a truly fascinating and sometimes complicated process, and I'm sharing with you my experience as a dahlia grower. The world of dahlia growing and breeding can be super fulfilling, while at the same time somewhat heartbreaking -- that is, if you're not prepared to accept what Mother Nature ultimately provides.

I list a few dahlia grower's resources at the end of this post and highly encourage you to do some dahlia growing research on your own!    

Dahlia tuber: Ivanetti variety

Dahlias, the darling of flower gardeners, are generally grown from tubers versus seeds or cuttings - although they can be grown all three ways. Tubers, somewhat akin to bulbs, need to be planted each spring, and then dug up at the first sign of frost. Once dug up, they need to be cleaned of all dirt and then carefully separated and stored over the winter under very specific conditions in order to remain preserved until the next spring.  

I've been growing dahlias since 2024, which doesn't sound like very long. But trust me, if you've grown dahlias for three full seasons, I guarantee you've learned a few things about growing dahlias.

After reading many dahlia growing guides, I learned that you could literally create your own variety of dahlia by saving seeds from one season and planting them in the next. I was so intrigued I knew I had to try it myself. So I started the process of saving seeds in 2024.  

WHAT MAKES DAHLIA SEEDS SO UNIQUE?    

Dahlias grown from tubers are quite consistent from year to year, producing the exact same flower every year. However, if you allow that flower to dry out in the garden (don't pick it!), then remove the seeds and plant them the following year, you never know what you're going to get. 

Unlike planting tubers, which gives you the exact replica of the prior years' flower, planting seeds is a crap shoot. Dahlias have eight sets of chromosomes, which means every single dahlia seed on earth is genetically one-of-a-kind. How cool is that?

BREEDING NEW DAHLIA VARIETIES FROM SEED

Dancin Queen dahlia seed pod from my 2026 garden

By leaving the flower to dry out completely in the garden before harvesting the seeds, you allow many different pollinators to visit your flower(s). Hence, the question as to what, exactly, your next-year's dahlia is going to look like.

With regard to saving dahlia seeds, in Dahlia Breeding for the Farmer-Florist and the Home Gardner, (2020) Kristene Albrecht says:

Unfortunately, most seeds produce plants with blooms that are less than stunning. In the dahlia garden, with bees randomly pollinating the blooms, less than one out of a thousand seeds will produce a new variety that really stands out as one with the potential to be a great new introduction.  (p.9)

One out of a thousand??? I'll be honest: had I known this important little tidbit in 2024 I probably wouldn't have tried to save any dahlia seeds.  

But I'm totally glad I did! (I'll get into how to save and dry dahlia seeds later in the post.)

When you cultivate a new variety of dahlia, you get to name it! My five original dahlia varieties were named 1) Marquis de Lafayette (maroon), 2) St. James Gate (yellow), 3) Brushed Velvet (pink single petal), 4) Pink Icing (pink double petal) and 5) Lexical Gap (coral/yellow).

And I've given my dahlia garden the name Frost Hollow Farm!  

2025 FROST HOLLOW FARM ORIGINAL DAHLIA VARIETIES YEAR #1

In 2025 I was lucky enough to grow five new varieties of dahlias from the prior year's seeds. Five! While they didn't exactly grow like gangbusters (or look very impressive), I at least got a glimpse of what they eventually could be. This picture shows four of the five varieties. There was also a yellow one that wasn't blooming at the time this picture was taken. 

The best part? They all produced tubers under the ground that I could harvest and then replant in 2026!  

My 2025 original dahlia varieties (left to right): Pink Icing (multi-petaled), Lexical Gap (multi-petaled), and Marquis de Lafayette (multi-petaled) 

 2025 Marquis de Lafayette dahlia (Look at those petals!)

2025 Marquis de Lafayette dahlia

 2025 Marquis de Lafayette dahlia

  2025 Pink Icing dahlia 

2025 Lexical Gap dahlia  

2025 Lexical Gap dahlia

2025 St. James Gate dahlia (double petaled)

 2025 St. James Gate dahlia

2025 Marquis de Lafayette dahlia and Pink Icing dahlia 

2026 FROST HOLLOW FARM ORIGINAL DAHLIA VARIETIES YEAR #2 

Once the 2025 growing season was over at the first fall frost in October 2025, I dug up those five new original varieties' tubers, then cleaned and stored them for planting in my 2026 garden - along with all my other numerous dahlia varieties' tubers as well. While none of the tubers were huge (and I didn't even know if they were viable) I was determined to get at least one of them to grow and bloom properly the following season.

And boy did I hit the jackpot! Four of the five were keepers!   

 

 2026 Marquis de Lafayette dahlia

 

2026 Lexical Gap dahlia

 

2026 St. James Gate dahlia

 2026 Pink Icing dahlia

All but one variety -- Brushed Velvet as seen above-- appear to be keepers. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), Brushed Velvet grew as a single petal flower that did not appear hardy enough to compete with the other original dahlia varieties. Its stem was very thin and it lost its petals very easily and early on after cutting.

I've never been a huge fan of dahlias with a single set of petals. I'm more of what they call a "ball" dahlia lover, as well as a "dinner plate" dahlia lover. 

Once my new varieties started growing, even though they weren't as impressive as my other commercial dahlia varieties, I realized it was nice to have diversity of dahlia shapes for bouquet purposes, as well as diversity of color.  

I also learned that most new varieties come out looking like daisies or cosmos with a ring of eight flat petals around an open yellow center (my Brushed Velvet dahlia above, far right). These genetic traits are dominant. Original dahlias grew in the mountains of Mexico and Central America, and for millions of years the dominant trait of eight petals with an open center was the norm. 

Eventually, growers started breeding dahlias for new and more desirable traits which gives us the too-numerous-to-mention, incredible dahlia shapes and colors we have today (and counting).

My four "keeper" dahlia varieties each had more than single petals, which was a terrific outcome for my first year of growing original dahlia varieties from tubers created from the prior year's seeds.

 

 

HOW TO SAVE AND STORE DAHLIA SEEDS 

One way to save dahlia seeds (and the technique I use) is to allow some of your beautiful blooms to go to seed around six weeks before the first expected frost, after which you can cut the seed pods off the plant once they're dry and bring them inside. 

It may be tempting to cut all the flowers as they bloom to add to your late summer bouquets, but it's essential that you leave some of them to ripen in the field in order to get seeds for the next season. 

2026 Dancing Queen seed head with some dried petals still attached.

 

 

 

2026 Orange Dinner Plate seed heads after all the petals have fallen off. 

 

Approximately six weeks or so after pollination, the closed-up seed head will be green on the outside with a brown or black tip as seen above.

 

The way you know that the seed heads are mature is when the inside (upon peeking in) seeds are brown or black (see sample seeds below). Green seeds are not yet mature. And don't be surprised if some of the seed heads don't end up having any viable seeds. (It all depends on the individual pollination process.)  

   

If the seeds are still green, you can wait and check again -- to confirm the seeds have turned dark and are viable -- before cutting the seed head off the plant (leave a bit of stem in case you decide to hang them upside down).  

In a perfect world your seed heads will remain dry in the garden. 

 

However, depending on where you live, they may get wet as a result of late summer/early fall rain showers. 

 

Never fear - if the seed pod has lost its petals (or they're obviously falling off and mostly dry) and is closed (even though still green as seen above), you can bring it inside to dry. Just make sure you place it in a spot that has good air flow to facilitate the drying process.   

 

 

I hang my dahlia seed heads in organza bags (which I also use during the growing season to keep beetles away) which allows for optimum air flow and seed drying conditions. 

 

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Seed Saving Paper Envelopes

 

Once dry, you can separate out the viable seeds from the chaff and place them in a seed saving envelope labeled with the year collected and the name of the seed parent's variety so next year you know where those seeds came from.  

 

 

 

 

  

Dahlias are one of nature's most beautiful gifts. And growing your own dahlias comes with deep satisfaction and fulfillment. Whether you cut the flowers and keep them for yourself, share them with friends, or sell them to happy customers, they will bring you and others joy. I can totally say that from experience.

 

And while growing dahlias requires a lot of research, preparation and work -- they are so worth it!  

Have I convinced you to start growing dahlias? You can start small and see if you like it and, if so, take it up a notch the following year. I know you won't be disappointed.  

 

  

DAHLIA GROWING AND BREEDING RESOURCES 

1. Dahlia Breeding for the Farmer-Florist and the Home Gardner, (2020) by Kristene Albrecht 

2. FREE RESOURCE: Triple Wren Farms: How to Grow Your Own Dahlia Seeds

Well, that's it for today, friends!

I hope you've enjoyed reading about

 How to Breed New Dahlia Varieties From Seed  

and that I've inspired you in some way.

Don't forget to buy the Book: 

Dahlia Breeding for the Farmer-Florist 

and the Home Gardener: by Kristine Albrecht.

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