Chimacum Katie

David and Leone Smith bought two dahlia plants from Burpee in 1982, fell in with the Washington State Dahlia Club, and were mentored into hybridizing by Les Connell, who told them to collect seed and see what happened. They retired from teaching in 1995, moved in 1996 to a small farm on the rich valley peat of Chimacum, Washington, and named the introductions that followed after the place. Katie arrived in 2001. She belongs to a large and decorated family: Chimacum Troy took the Lynn B. Dudley Medal, Chimacum Pumpkin and Chimacum Zyair took medals of their own, and the parallel Valley series produced the Stanley Johnson Medal winner Valley Porcupine. The Smiths entered the Federation of Northwest Dahlia Growers Hall of Fame in 2011 and received the American Dahlia Society President's Award in 2014. Their son Matt runs the farm now.

Chimacum Katie is the bright pink workhorse of the Smith program, a small formal decorative at 4 to 6 inches carried on stems long enough to cut without hunting for them. Sunset View and Floret both describe it as ultra productive and uniform, which is the pairing market growers actually want, because uniform blooms make a bunch that sells. Height is the one field where sources part company. Connell's and Sunset View put it at about 4 feet, while Heirloom Soul measures 54 to 60 inches in western New York, so plan for the taller figure and stake accordingly. Pinch at 12 inches for branching. It suits cut flower growers first, but the color is loud enough that a single plant will carry a home border on its own.