In 2006 Kristine Albrecht reclaimed an urban quarter acre in Santa Cruz, California, that had been weed-choked and fallow for years. She fed the soil and eventually planted over 1,800 dahlias. Kristine's passion has been hybridizing new dahlia varieties. She develops varieties for both exhibition and cut flowers. As of this writing, Kristine has introduced twenty varieties to the market. All of her varieties start with her initials: KA's. In addition to being an award-winning dahlia exhibitor, Kristine is a cut flower farmer working with florists and designers. She has an active Instagram account at @santacruzdahlias, a YouTube channel at Kristine Albrecht, and a website at santacruzdahlias.com. In 2020 Kristine and her husband Brion authored the popular book "Dahlia Breeding for the Farmer-Florist and the Home Gardener." This is considered the first and definitive book on dahlia hybridizing. In 2023, she and Brion released "DAHLIAS: Seed to Bloom," a book all about dahlia care and culture. Kristine was the president of the Monterey Bay Dahlia Society for 13 years and is currently leading the Dahlia Genome Project at the American Dahlia Society. Kristine has won the American Dahlia Society's Derrill Hart Award for 'KA's Cloud', 'KA's Khaleesi', and 'KA's Papa John'. In addition, she won the American Dahlia Society's Lynn B Dudley Award for 'KA's Cloud'. Kristine lives in Santa Cruz, California, with her husband. The couple has two grown children.
