About Us

Swan Island Dahlias 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, 20 acres of farmland was purchased in Canby, and the business was relocated to its present site.

The original owners approached Nick and Margaret Gitts with the proposition of buying Swan Island Dahlias from them in 1963. Nick and Margaret owned a dairy farm in Laurel, Washington a small community outside of Ferndale. Along with their dairy farm, they also owned and operated a small dahlia business on their farm know as Laurel Valley Dahlias. It would mean a huge change in their lives, but they decided to purchase Swan Island Dahlias, and moved their family to Oregon. 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. It was a big adjustment, but the business was successful and grew, and under the Gitts family has expanded to a little over 40 acres at present. Nicholas and Ted Gitts joined their parents as partners in 1975 and then in 1991, their parents retired from the business.  Under Nicholas and Ted, new changes were made to the business. Wholesale was expanded, our annual dahlia show became larger, our color catalog became more extensive and all the photography for our catalog is now done by Nicholas Gitts. And bringing in a computer system to help with our customer base and orders brought our farming operation and office into a new era.

The family circle continues with Nicholas’ daughters, Jennifer and Heather, and Ted's son Derek having joined the business, bringing with them more changes and new ideas. Our current website and computer ordering systems were brought into being under their supervision, and website design is managed by another family member, Brendon Schloe (husband of Heather) Our color catalog is now online and readily available at the click of a mouse, thanks to the next generation.

Swan Island Dahlias is the largest and leading dahlia grower in the United States and has been in operation for over 85 years. The Gitts family has owned and operated the business for over 40 years. We proudly offer the largest full color dahlia catalog in the industry. We hybridize our own new varieties, planting over 30,000 seedlings each year. From those original seedlings, it takes about 4 years to introduce a new seedling for sale. Each season we introduce anywhere from 5 to 15 new varieties which are featured in our catalog and at our farm. We grow over 350 varieties on 40 acres that are open to the public during blooming season, and it is a beautiful sight to behold. We are very proud of Swan Island Dahlias, and the farming tradition our family brings to the business we’ve owned and operated for three generations. We are dedicated to bringing the best and highest quality dahlias the world has to offer now and in future generations to come.

Many of our customers had the privilege of meeting Nick Sr., here at our farm. In October of 2007 he lost his battle with cancer. He will be greatly missed by our family. He loved the dahlia business, and the dahlia world has lost a special person who has contributed to the beauty and creation of new dahlia varieties.  We will continue to carry on the traditions that he taught us. Margaret Gitts continues to help out in the business.

We wish you all a wonderful growing season.

Nicholas and Ted Gitts and families