KA's Papa John

Papa John reached retail catalogs around 2022, and Kristine Albrecht's site lists it as a 2021 Derrill Hart Medal winner, an award we attribute to her rather than state flatly. The name honors a person, in the warm, personal way Albrecht tends to name her dahlias. She breeds in Santa Cruz on a quarter acre, and the trademarked KA's line is propagated and sold by licensed partner farms, not by Albrecht herself. Papa John fills a useful niche in her white lineup: collectors who love Khaleesi but cannot manage a giant get the same clean informal decorative look at a croppable A size. That practicality, plus the Albrecht name and the Hart recognition, keeps it in steady demand.

Papa John is a large informal decorative, ADS class A, with blooms around 8 inches on plants near 48 inches. It reads as a more usable Khaleesi: same clean white informal decorative look, but at an A size that fits a bucket and a bouquet without the staking demands of a true AA giant. Still, an 8 inch bloom on a 4 foot plant wants support, so stake and disbud to one bloom per stem for the best size and stem length. Pinch once when young. White dahlias scorch and brown in intense sun, so a little afternoon shade in hot climates keeps the petals clean. Khaleesi is the obvious step up if you want the giant version of this white, while Papa John is the easier, more croppable choice for actual cut-flower work.