When Alistair Davey was 13 years old, his great uncle gave him his first dahlia. 

No-one could suspect that this was the start of his lifelong passion for these remarkable flowers. Alistair fell in love with them all those years ago and it's a love affair that has stood the test of time. 

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When Alistair left school it was to pursue an apprenticeship as a nurseryman and he began working for Trevor Griffiths, whose passion was in roses.  Alistair learned a lot, especially about propagation.  After he became a fully fledged professional nurseryman, he specialised in propagating plants of all descriptions and dahlias in particular.  Alistair worked at the Trevor Griffiths Garden at Caroline Bay in Timaru and also at the Timaru Botanical Gardens.  He was the Chief Propagator at the Timaru District Council for many years, until he became a full-time dahlia breeder and grower at Davey Gardens.

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Alistair and his wife Joan have been growing and showing dahlias for years.  Alistair is a National Judge specialising in dahlias and daffodils. He does the growing and Joan helps him with the showing.  She'll tell you that Alistair is such a perfectionist that all she's allowed to do is write the tickets and wipe the vases.  That's not strictly the truth.  Joan runs the business side of things and it is Joan's cheerful voice you'll talk to if you want to place an order, or follow up on a special dahlia.