About Wild Horse Gardens

Welcome to Wild Horse Gardens. We started with 30 plants bought from a big farm in our state of Oregon that has international notice. It was addictive from the start and we quickly started adding varieties and getting culling those we were not in love with. For five years we have learned, improved, and thrived in dahlia gardening with nearly 70 varieties grown in the past 5 years and over 80 plants in the dahlia patch. We think it’s a lot of work (largely done by Nichole), but realize that even for what seems like a lot of plants, other back yard gardeners can put us to shame.

We’re dedicated to sharing a love of gardening and information. The goal of this page is first and foremost to keep our notes of how plants have grown in our corner of the world in a cool, coastal climate. We hope to have a healthy Tips and Tricks page of resources for those who are starting out growing dahlias. We strive to grow quality dahlia tubers and have started rehoming our abundance so you can share in the love of dahlias. With a focus on active eyes and a careful dividing in the fall, we have been able to connect many tubers with new happy homes. You should see Nichole taking her weekly walks with maps, ground tags and plant tags. The scientist in her loves a good label.

In the Spring of 2022, our passion for gardening drove us to seek homes for the abundance from our own dahlia patch. Coupled with an abundance of extra tubers and a desire to find soil for healthy tubers, we have sent tubers to gardens all over the US (sans California). Currently we are working on our Nursery license and getting plants inspected so you know we are educated, aware and vigilant to the issues that impact the health of plants. We are happy to hear that the tubers are bringing joy to others as well and are thrilled to share our passion with you.

Nichole is the main gardener and fits in gardening amongst family time and working full time as a college instructor in Biology. Her love of nature and curiosity in biology has lead her on a journey of discovery in all things dahlia. A true teacher, she enjoys sharing her knowledge of gardening with the local community and now here in a more global form.

We hope you enjoy looking at pictures of our garden, reading the Tips and Tricks, and if you are around in the Spring of 2023, consider rehoming some of our tubers at your garden. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us.

Where did we get our name?

Nichole has dreamed of gardening since childhood, pleasing her mother with free weeding from an early age. Nichole’s other passions include being in the woods, birding, and playing with her horses. When her family purchased their 5 acre home, she wanted to name the property. For years she pondered on names associated with bird species that live on site. Then in 2021, her first horse and the reason she wanted acreage tragically passed after 21 years together. The dahlia patch helped with her grief. After toying with names, she settled on the name Wild Horse Gardens as a memorial to her horse Arrow and the summer she first met him while working at Wild Horse Guard Station in the Copper Basin area of Idaho.