Editor’s note: This article originally posted on the San Francisco Examiner. Click here for more culture reporting at sfexaminer.com
A free, two-day show in Golden Gate Park will celebrate San Francisco’s official flower, awarding dahlia blooms across several categories.
The Dahlia Society of California — San Francisco’s chapter of the American Dahlia Society — holds its annual flower show at the San Francisco County Fair Building at 1199 9th Ave. on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The annual show and competition, which the local arm has organized dating back to the late 1910s, involves a panel of expert judges evaluating floral displays from members of multiple chapters.
“We take so much pride in offering a free, family-friendly experience at our annual show and competition,” Dahlia Society of California member Jenna Kaiser said of the event, which also includes photo opportunities, a children’s activity table and roving ambassadors who will disseminate horticultural knowledge. Kaiser said this weekend will feature “a spectacular display of colorful abundance.”
Organizers say the event, also known as “Floribunda,” allows the local chapter to celebrate its gardeners’ work and a piece of San Francisco’s history. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution on Oct. 4, 1926 declaring the dahlia The City’s official flower.
“In its versatility, its beauty, its infinite variety of color and form, it is the very symbol of San Francisco life and of the spirit of her people,” the ordinance reads.
Dahlias typically bloom from June through September, peaking in August. On the third weekend of that month each year, “Floribunda” fills a Golden Gate Park exhibition hall with hundreds of blooms. Gardeners compete in categories like “best in show,” “largest dahlia” and “nature’s oddities.” Visitors get to vote on their favorite bloom as part of a “people’s choice” prize, and a special prize will be awarded among a group of first-time participants.
The National Dahlia Society currently recognizes 15 varieties of the plant, with plenty set to be represented in The City this weekend. Some floral show booths will showcase pompons, a paper lantern-shaped plant with double spherical blooms, while others will highlight star dahlias, a plant whose florets form a single outer ring resembling the astronomical object.
Floribunda’s themed arrangement category this year is “Taste of California,” and it pays tribute to the state’s environment and landscape. Dahlias in shades of burgundy and rose will honor wine cellars, while arrangements using orange or yellow flowers highlight citrus groves. Others incorporate vegetables, gardening equipment, fruit and water.
The Dahlia Society of California’s work is not just limited to this weekend. Members hold a sale every spring for dahlia tubers and young plants, at the County Fair Building, allowing aspiring gardeners to get their plots started with needed materials. The organization also hosts meetings on the second Tuesday of each month and conducts a summer tour of Dahlia Dell near the Conservatory of Flowers in September.
Over 700 plants reside in the free, public garden that society members oversee. San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department General Manager Phil Ginsburg said the dahlias blooming in Golden Gate Park for over 140 years makes “their presence not just striking, but historic.”
Dahlia Society of California members have made the dell “one of the park’s most cherished and enduring displays,” Ginsburg said, as well as “one of the longest-running of its kind in the country.”
That communal connection is “what makes the annual dahlia show so special,” he said.
“It’s more than a celebration of flowers — it’s a living tradition rooted in San Francisco’s identity,” Ginsburg said.
Organizers have set up areas where attendees can take photos surrounded by colorful dahlias. Some Dahlia Society of California members will move around the hall as ambassadors providing “all the dahlia information one can wish to absorb,” Kaiser said. Tidbits include ways to ensure that a bloom thrives in any of The City’s microclimates and best practices for starting your own gardening plot, among other helpful hints.
“We love informing the masses that in 2026, the Dahlia Society will celebrate the 100-year anniversary of being the official flower of San Francisco,” she said.
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