Cactus, pompon, waterlily, ball, collarette, there are so many different types of dahlias. Here we each pick our favourite one of all…
Caroline: My favourite dahlia is of course, one that appears to require little expertise. I bought D. ‘Karma Irene’ from Chelsea Flower Show three years ago. One of the ‘waterlily’ type dahlias it’s best known as a favourite with flower arrangers.
For me, its chief asset lies in its dependably ‘can-do’ attitude viz-a-viz coming back to life after over-wintering in my cupboard, (unlike some others). It lights up my front border with its big, vibrant tomato red flowers for fully three months of the year….every year without fail.
Laura: If, like Caroline, bling is your basket, then her favourite really does seem to sing for its supper.
I struggle with the colour palette and overly symmetrical flower structures (reminiscent of my childhood Spirograph creations) of many modern dahlias and am more drawn to the large old-fashioned, rather overblown spiky style blooms. So I was won over by ‘Cafe au Lait’ when I first saw it on a Flowers from the Farm stand at a show. Properly big, flamboyant, flower heads of the ‘dinner plate’ variety in a delectable shell pink, fading to pale buff. It feels like a dahlia equivalent of Rosa ‘Chandos Beauty’, and would be tastefully decadent in a wedding flower arrangement. Very British, very nice, and definitely my favourite dahlia.
Elaine: Sorry, girls, you are clearly fans of socking great bloomers (I’m saying nothing) but I’ve never been a lover of these big double-flowered dahlias. The small-single flowered ones are much more my style, and my favourite of these is Dahlia merckii. It has masses of dainty flowers in shades of purple, pink or white with a purple or yellow centre. They almost literally dance on tall 1-2m stems all through late summer and into late autumn.
And… this dahlia species is hardier than many others and can be left in the ground under a thick mulch in most areas of the UK. Being a species rather than a variety, it can even be grown easily from seed. Dahlia merckii blends beautifully with other late summer perennials like salvias and is wonderful for all the late-foraging pollinators – two qualities that the whoppers utterly lack.
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One reply on “Our favourite dahlias”
I particularly like the collarette dahlias and they are much loved by pollinators. Lots of really lovely ones but Ashpire Fancy, Mary Eveline and Pooh are particularly good. My most successful plant in the front garden is a single called Hadrian’s Sunset which has beautiful orange flowers and the most wonderful almost iridescent chocolatey foliage. All bought from Hall’s of Heddon.