Kristine Albrecht

Santa Cruz Dalhias

In 2006 Kristine Albrecht reclaimed an urban quarter acre in Santa Cruz, California, that was weed-choked and fallow for years. She fed the soil and eventually planted over 1,800 dahlias. Kristine's passion has been hybridizing new dahlia varieties. She develops varieties for both exhibition and cut flowers. All of her varieties start with her initials: K.A.'s. In addition to being an award-winning dahlia exhibitor, Kristine is a cut flower farmer working with florists and designers. She has an active Instagram account: @santacruzdahlias.

In 2020 Kristine authored the popular book Dahlia Breeding for the Farmer-Florist and the Home Gardener.  This is considered the first and definitive book on dahlia hybridizing.

Kristine was the president of the Monterey Bay Dahlia Society for 13 years and is currently leading the Dahlia Genome Project at the American Dahlia Society. 

Kristine has won the American Dahlia Society's Derrill Hart Award for 'K.A.'s Cloud,' 'K.A.'s Khaleesi,' and 'K.A.'s Papa John.' In addition, she won the American Dahlia Society's Lynn B Dudley Award for 'K.A.'s Cloud.'

Kristine lives in Santa Cruz, California, with her husband. The couple has two grown children.

Show Notes

  • Dahlias are heavy feeders and with great soil, high in organic matter, Kristine doesn’t  fertilize often but maybe mid season.

  • Dahlias prefer a PH of 6.5 to 6.8

  • Overcrowding can lead to smaller flowers and powdery mildew so spacing is crucial.

  • Use Cover crops in the fall and winter to feed the planting areas to provide the soil with rich organic matter and nutrition, plus Kristine is a big fan of no-till methods.

  • Soil testing will help you know what you need to add to your soil for optimal nutrition.

  • Disbudding is important for quality flowers.  It helps the plant not waste energy on secondary flowers.

  • When hybridizing, it’s important to cull out varieties you don’t want to be part of your program, especially if you're using open pollination to breed new varieties.  She really loves to use hand pollination to control here breeding program.