Shirley N. Rennick became interested in dahlias quite by accident. She and a friend kayaked to the community center in North Kingstown where she saw a dahlia auction in progress. “I poked in,” Shirley says “and Dot Taylor asked me if I was interested in a particular color.” After Dot helped to expedite Shirley’s color selections, she left with a number of dahlia tubers. That was the beginning of Shirley’s obsession with dahlias. She has long been active in gardening, but had not been introduced to dahlias until that day. “They are now my favorite,” she says.

Larry and Joan Additon, who Shirley has dubbed the King and Queen of dahlias, have been an inspiration to her, as have Walt and Dot Taylor.  Both couples are always willing to share their knowledge, she says.  Each year she learns from her mistakes and those of others, and she keeps trying to improve her growing skills.    Shirley has moved many of her dahlias to her daughter’s house, because she doesn’t have room to add any more to her own plot of land!

A member of RIDS since 2002, Shirley grows between 50 and 100 plants each year.   While she mainly grows dahlias for her own pleasure rather than for competition, she entered her first show in 2007 where she won a blue ribbon for an entry in the Artistic Arrangement category. She favors Informal Decorative, Orchid, Waterlily, Incurved Cactus and Semi-Cactus types and names Jules Lotus, Valley Porcupine and Sterling Silver among her many favorites.

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