Rocky Reach Heralded for Dahlia Cultivation

The Rocky Reach Discovery Center in Wenatchee is being recognized for "outstanding contributions" to dahlia cultivation.

Last Saturday, Wenatchee played host to the American Dahlia Society's national show. According to a Chelan PUD press release, the show was massive, dwarfing every preceding dahlia exhibit to take place in North America this year.

Amid 5,000 dahlia blooms, Parks Foreman Todd Shales accepted a commemorative metal on behalf of Rocky Reach.

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Rocky Reach is renowned for its nearly 40 acres of impenetrably lush flower beds and greenery. The grounds are nurtured by Shales and his ever-dutiful eight-person crew. They "plan each flower bed, orders supplies and grow about 30,000 to 50,000 plants a year in the PUD’s three greenhouses."

According to the PUD, "Dahlias grow from tubers that multiply during the growing season. Every autumn, volunteers from the local dahlia society divide and store the tubers from Rocky Reach for winter. In spring, they sell the tubers as a fundraiser and plant any remaining tubers in a public garden at Confluence Health Hospital."

"For [NCW Dahlia Society trustee] Linda DeRooy Holmes-Cook, the connection to Rocky Reach is personal. Her father, Tony DeRooy, was the first person to landscape and keep the grounds of Chelan PUD. He designed the iconic American flag bed and the Chelan PUD flower logo at Rocky Reach Park."

"The dahlia garden at Rocky Reach was one of the first flower beds planted by Tony DeRooy, and the first public dahlia garden in North Central Washington. He launched the local chapter of the American Dahlia Society to promote the growing and showing of dahlias in North Central Washington."

"The American Dahlia Society presented DeRooy Holmes-Cook with the President’s Award in remembrance of Tony DeRooy on Saturday."