The Dahlia Handbook – A Guide for Dahlia Lovers Who Dig Deeper
Signed 1st Edition Preorder – Ships Mid-November

From Indigenous medicine and Victorian obsession to today’s “Dahlia Wars,” The Dahlia Handbook uncovers the hidden world behind one of the most extraordinary flowers ever grown.

Written by author, farmer, and plant breeder Craig Bell, this isn’t your typical gardening manual. It’s a field guide, a memoir, and a manifesto for anyone who’s ever fallen a little too hard for a flower. Drawing on over a decade of hands-on growing, Bell takes readers deep into the world of propagation, breeding, and plant health – and into the business, burnout, and balance that come with turning passion into livelihood.

Inside, you’ll find stories drawn from years of growing and the patterns that appear when work becomes obsession.

• “Off-Script” begins in a small town diner, where Bell muses that the first bloom (like the first pancake) is rarely the best, but patience brings the good ones.
• In “Breeding Dahlias,” genetics are demystified with humor and insight, revealing how streaked petals and strange seedlings are part of the plant’s natural creativity.
• “Photosynthesis” transforms a classroom lesson into a cosmic journey, tracing a photon from the heart of a star to a bloom in your garden.
• “One Plant Divided” explores the story of Bishop of Llandaff and the vast networks of clonal life that connect every plant we grow.

Practical and philosophical, The Dahlia Handbook balances real-world growing advice with reflections on beauty, a little chaos and the human need to create. It offers grounded, field-tested insight on soil, overwintering, and pest management, while reminding us to laugh, to stay curious, and to make peace with imperfection.

At its heart, the book is about balance – between what we grow and what we let be. It traces the dahlia’s story from its Indigenous beginnings to its modern forms, without losing sight of the plant itself.

For growers, dreamers, and anyone who digs a little deeper.