Eight Feet of Wow!
- Diana Pierce
- Sep 10
- 3 min read
Following Arnie Sachs on his journey to the Nationals
by Diana Pierce, Sept. 10th, 2025
Last fall, I introduced you to Arnie Sachs—the soft-spoken, 80-year-old retired mechanic from Andover, Minnesota—whose towering 8-foot dahlias keep climbing from backyard rows to blue-ribbon Courts of Honor.
This week, he’s preparing for a fall show and, soon after, packing the car for the Chicago nationals.
“Every season is its own puzzle,” he told me when we spoke this week. “Heat, rain, a smoky sky—and now cold nights. You adjust and keep going.”
What’s changed since last year
The layout of Arnie’s garden looks the same—rows of carefully staked plants—but his pace is sharper this year.
He’s cutting closer to presentation time, conditioning stems hotter (yes, hotter- see explainer down below), and riding the night temperatures to slow a bloom just enough for show day.
Ladder-high blooms still line the rows, but his front-runners and on-the-bubble picks are sorted with no mercy. One messy center? Out.
Countdown: The Last 72 Hours
First, tag, then wait. A day or two before a show, Arnie walks the rows and marks his favorites as likely winners.
The night before. He cuts the final stems late the night before—or in the cool of early morning—and plunges them into very hot tap water. “Hot to the touch, as hot as you can get it without boiling,” Arnie says. The heat opens the stem’s “plumbing” so water moves fast and the blooms drink deeply. Then, the buckets rest cool and dark in the basement overnight; in the morning, they go straight to the car.
Why hot water works- Dahlias Cut/Conditioning Guide
Load like a pro. In the morning, stems slide into buckets fitted with light wire grids. Slim wooden dowels clip to stems with small hair clips to keep them from bouncing. At the venue, water first—then grooming.
The Road to Nationals
Chicago is a five‑hour drive shared with his wife Mary Ellen—and a test of nerves. To win, Arnie must cut late, condition hot, and hold cool. The car is pre‑chilled, the route planned, the rest stops timed for water checks. On arrival: hydrate first, groom second, present last.
For new growers (Arnie’s one‑page pep talk)
Pinch early. At 3–4 sets of true leaves, top your plant to push laterals—and you’ll end up with more (and better) show stems.
Don’t drown them. Young plants need less water than you think; soggy roots stall growth and invite rot.
Feed on purpose. In fall, work in well‑composted manure; in spring, use a balanced fertilizer—adjusted to your soil test. Every garden is a little different.
Stake and label. The wind doesn’t care how close you are to “show” day. Neither does your memory when a tag pops. Tie early, tie often.
Join people. A meeting or a morning at the trial garden will save you a season of guesswork.
Why Arnie keeps doing this
Because every season is a new puzzle to solve. Because there’s nothing like walking into a room full of perfect blooms and hearing strangers gasp. And now, his grandson, Noah, is following him in his own blue-ribbon journey.
If you go-
Bachman’s on Lyndale: Minnesota Dahlia Society Fall Show
ADS National Show, Chicago: Think “World Series of Dahlias”
If you want to see how Arnie fares, head to Bachman’s this weekend, then watch my Instagram for nationals updates.
Do you have a favorite dahlia? Hit reply and tell me its name—or the color that stops you in your tracks.
Here is one of mine, called "My Hero" -
I’ll share reader favorites in next week’s Fresh Cuttings.
Diana
P.S. For several years I’ve been producing a desktop photo calendar of my favorite bloom photos I’ve taken through the year. Last year I made them available to the public and they were very popular.
So I’m doing the same thing this year. They make a nice holiday gift. If you’d like to order a calendar, reply to this email and let me know!
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