Dahlias Information

Swan Island Dahlias, in business for over 93 years, is the largest and leading dahlia grower in the United States. We are located in the town of Canby, in the rich soil of the Willamette Valley of Oregon. The farm was originally located in Portland, Oregon, with some buildings on Swan Island, which is where the farm's name was derived from. There was also a roadside stand in Sellwood, a suburb of Portland, so the business was known as both Swan Island Dahlias and Portland Dahlia Gardens at that time. Swan Island Dahlias was moved to Canby, Oregon on rented land in the 1940's. Around 1953, twenty acres of farmland was purchased in Canby, and the business was relocated to its present site. Nick and Margaret Gitts purchased Swan Island Dahlias in 1963 and moved their family to Oregon. Previously they owned a dairy farm in Laurel, Washington. Along with their dairy farm, they also owned and operated a small dahlia business on their farm know as Laurel Valley Dahlias. No longer just handling a small acre of dahlias, they were now farming 20 acres of dahlias as well as running the retail mail order and wholesale end of the dahlia business too. Under the Gitts family, the farm has grown to almost 40 acres at present.