Dahlia Dr.'s Garden

These are pictures of the dahlia garden (orchard) belonging to Rick Peters. He has been retired from running the lab at Mercy Hospital for a little over two years, and has mostly devoted his time to propagating and growing plants. Dahlias are his specialty, and he has delved into this hobby full bore. As President of the Midwest Dahlia Conference, Regional Vice President of the American Dahlia Society, and past President of the Grand Valley Dahlia Society, he has been busy with his organizational skills.

Rick Peters is in charge of the garden aside the AA Club building at the corner of Hile and Henry Streets in Norton Shores. The garden has been totally made up of some 50 dahlia plants, and they have performed wonderfully in the rich soil at the site. Note the picture of Rick "tuning up" the dahlias. By disbudding and proper disbranching, the dahlia blooms will reach the proper sizes.