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"Going from "what's a dahlia?" to 80 varieties in just a few years"

Who would have thought that tucked away at the end of a long driveway off Route 82 in Stanfordville lies Bear Creek Farm, Debra Kaye’s home and the site of her commercial dahlia venture. In fact Bear Creek is the only commercial dahlia farm in the Northeast.

It all began three years ago quite by accident. In 2012 when Debra was planning her Autumn wedding to Steven Horowitz, she asked a florist friend to do the flowers. As he was already booked, he suggested she grow her own flowers particularly dahlias that would be in bloom in September. Debra asked, “what’s a dahlia?” When she saw photographs, she planted 100 tubers.

As you must keep picking for the plants to continue blooming, Debra soon had so many extra flowers that she took bunches to the farmers market. They sold out at once and when she discovered she would be paid, Bear Creek Dahlias was born.

Since then the enterprise has grown almost exponentially. Today Debra has over two and a half acres planted with 80 varieties of dahlias, which she sells at farmers markets in New York and Rhinebeck as well as at Big Rock Farm in Stanfordville. She also sells to florists and wholesalers. And she is just beginning.

Read more at The Millbrook Independent
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