Grow Irish Gnome? We feature grower photos, credited and linked.
Save to PinterestSteve and Sandy Boley, 2023
Irish Gnome
A clear yellow on a tiny micro formal decorative, perfect and precise at under two inches.
More yellow & gold dahlias- Hybridizer
- Steve and Sandy Boley
- Introduced
- 2023
- ADS size
- MC (Micro, up to 2 inch blooms)
- Bloom
- 1 to 2 inches
- Height
- not yet verified
Why people hunt it
Irish Gnome, a 2023 introduction from Steve and Sandy Boley, won the American Dahlia Society's Stanley Johnson Medal as the best new seedling, an award announced in 2026, and already sits at number fifteen on the Fab 50. The Boleys are on one of the hottest streaks in current dahlia breeding, with Sandia Brocade and the double-medal Sandia Regal also to their name. A medal-winning micro this new will be hard to find for a season or two while stock builds, which is the usual arc for a fresh ADS winner.
Growing notes, including the hard parts
Irish Gnome is a micro formal decorative in clear yellow, a fully double bloom under two inches that looks like a perfect dahlia shrunk to a thumbnail. Micros are bred for the show bench, where uniformity wins, but they also make charming additions to a small posy. Standard care. As a brand-new medal winner it is scarce, so expect to chase it. It comes from the same Boley program as Sandia Brocade and the 2025 double-medal winner Sandia Regal, a breeding partnership on a strong run of awards.
Sold out? Closest alternatives
No substitute is exact, and we say so in each profile. These are the varieties growers reach for when Irish Gnome is gone.
Sandia Brocade
Warm golden orange shading to cantaloupe, with reflexed outer petals around a tubular, fringed center, all carried on dark stems.
Sandia Regal
A clear purple on a clean waterlily, the newest star from the Boley breeding program.
Sources and references
Some fields on this profile are not yet verified and are shown as such rather than guessed. See how we source.