Kristine Albrecht

In 2006 Kristine, owner of Santa Cruz Dahlias, reclaimed an urban quarter of an acre on the east side of Santa Cruz that for years was weed-choked and fallow.  She fed the soil and eventually planted over 1,000 dahlia tubers. Kristine's focus and passion is on hybridizing new dahlia varieties. What makes her unique is her hybrids grown for complex colors and multiple forms that are a favorite of florists and designers.  She also hybridizes new varieties that meet the rigid standards of the American Dahlia Society.

 Today, she is president of the Monterey Bay Dahlia Society and travels with her blooms to local and national dahlia shows. In 2014 she won the best small bloom at the National show as well as winning both the Derrill Hart Award and the Lynn P. Dudley award for her cultivar, KA's Cloud. She won the Derrill Hart Award again in 2018 for her cultivar KA's Khaleesi.  In 2012, 2016 & 2019 Kristine grew the largest dahlia shown in the U.S.