Hi everyone! I’m Jessie R*, another refugee from the Dahlia Cubit, where I was a regular lurker/learner (same username) and once-in-a-blue-moon poster. I feel like I know many of you already from reading your posts over many years, and am so grateful for all the knowledge (and beautiful dahlia pics) you shared.

About me: I have been gardening since I was a child. I clearly remember around age 10 becoming mesmerized by a Breck’s catalog that showed up at our house and talking my mom into ordering a bunch of tulips and something called a “Blue Chips Campanula'' that turned out to be lavender, not gentian blue like in the picture. I created an elaborate color planting chart for the tulips that ended up not mattering as they bloomed at different times, and praised the campanula effusively every time I watered it because I did not want it to realize I wished it were blue.

I am in my forties now and have been growing dahlias for around twenty years. I am the proprietor and sole employee of Roving Radish Flower Farm, which escalated gradually from a community garden plot and has pretty much eaten my life. I still take the color progression of my field Very Seriously (agonizing about whether such-and-such is more of a peach or an apricot), and I still buy seeds for things that have zero application as cut flowers Because It Was Blue.

For those who don't recognize the tells: I am autistic (mostly verbal, but language-ing takes me longer, tires me out, and gets glitchy when I’m stressed.) I get twitchy around people and noise, but am happy and competent in the garden. This is useful to know mainly so you don’t take slow response times personally; it is probably just me having a bad language day.

Anyway, nice to meet you all and I look forward to lurking regularly and interacting sporadically here! 🙂

*I realize this forum already has a Jessie, but you will just have to make room for another one. Ask yourselves: is there such a thing as too many Jessies? I think not. 😉