Cultivating Dahlias for Aesthetics: A Garden Guide
Decorative dahlias, a captivating group within the dahlia family, are renowned for their impressive and showy flower heads. These flowers, with their elegantly shaped flat or slightly twisted petals, are a popular choice for garden displays and floral arrangements.
These dahlias are characterised by their double blooms, featuring broad, flat ray florets that are slightly twisted and involute, usually bluntly pointed. Notably, they lack a visible central disc [1].
Some popular varieties of decorative dahlias include 'Berliner Kleene', known for its typical double blooms with broad, flat, slightly twisted, and bluntly pointed ray florets. 'Cafe au lait' is another favourite, famous for its large, double blooms and a soft pastel palette, often appearing in creamy peach or pink shades.
'Woodland Merinda' is a decorative variety with dense, double blooms and rounded petals, while 'David Howard' is a classic decorative dahlia with vibrant double flowers suitable for both cut flowers and garden display.
For those seeking a diverse range of colours, the Decorative Dahlia Mixture (Super Sak) offers a blend of orange, red, pink, purple, yellow, and bicolours, blooming throughout summer up to 36 inches tall.
Beyond these traditional decorative dahlias, there are other distinctive varieties from various breeding programs. For instance, 'Dahlia Waltzing Mathilda' boasts bronze foliage and peachy-pink petals, making it suitable for containers. 'Dahlia Totally Tangerine' offers a coral-orange colour with an open center, attractive to pollinators, while 'Dahlia Dark Aruna' showcases deep scarlet petals on almost black stems, creating a striking contrast.
'Dahlia Gardenetta Orange' is a compact size with bright orange flowers, ideal for small beds or patios. 'Dahlia Summer Red Bicolour' presents a candy-striped red and creamy white display, bold and cheerful, and 'Dahlia Labella Grande Chocolate Amber' offers deep amber petals edged darker, evoking a moody late-summer look.
'Arabian Night' Dahlia produces fully double, deep burgundy flowers up to 10cm in diameter, while 'Sir Alf Ramsey' bears huge, double pink flowers up to 25cm in diameter. 'Checkers' is a miniature decorative dahlia, bearing small, bi-coloured flowers in pink and white, and 'Art Deco' bears huge, apricot-pink double flowers throughout summer.
The 'Westerton Lilian' Dahlia bears huge primrose-yellow flowers with pinkish tones, standing at a height of 1.3m with a spread of 40cm. 'Rothesay Reveller' offers medium-flowered decorative dahlias bearing purple and white flowers up to 20cm in diameter, with a height and spread of 1.2m and 40cm, respectively. Lastly, 'Leopold Chloe' is a small-flowered decorative dahlia bearing double, rich pink flowers, also standing at a height of 1.2m with a spread of 40cm.
Decorative dahlias should be grown in a sunny, sheltered spot in good fertile soil. They can be bought as tubers to pot up and plant in spring, or as garden-ready plants to plant out straight away. Always check plants and tubers for signs of damage or disease before planting.
In frost-prone areas, dahlia tubers may need to be lifted and brought under cover over winter. For the widest variety of decorative dahlias, look at nurseries online. Sources for buying decorative dahlias include Crocus, Gardening Direct, and Thompson & Morgan.
References: [1] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia [2] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia 'Berliner Kleene'. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia/find-a-plant/search?q=berliner%20kleene [3] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia 'Cafe au Lait'. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia/find-a-plant/search?q=cafe%20au%20lait [4] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia 'Woodland Merinda'. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia/find-a-plant/search?q=woodland%20merinda [5] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia 'David Howard'. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia/find-a-plant/search?q=david%20howard [6] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia Decorative Dahlia Mixture (Super Sak). Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia/find-a-plant/search?q=decorative%20dahlia%20mixture%20(super%20sak) [7] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia 'Dahlia Waltzing Mathilda'. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia/find-a-plant/search?q=dahlia%20waltzing%20mathilda [8] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia 'Totally Tangerine'. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia/find-a-plant/search?q=totally%20tangerine [9] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia 'Dark Aruna'. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia/find-a-plant/search?q=dark%20aruna [10] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia 'Gardenetta Orange'. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia/find-a-plant/search?q=gardenetta%20orange [11] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia 'Summer Red Bicolour'. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia/find-a-plant/search?q=summer%20red%20bicolour [12] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia 'Labella Grande Chocolate Amber'. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia/find-a-plant/search?q=labella%20grande%20chocolate%20amber [13] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia 'Arabian Night'. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia/find-a-plant/search?q=arabian%20night [14] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia 'Sir Alf Ramsey'. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia/find-a-plant/search?q=sir%20alf%20ramsey [15] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia 'Checkers'. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia/find-a-plant/search?q=checkers [16] The Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Dahlia 'Art Deco'. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/31221/Dahlia/find-a-plant/search?q=art%20deco
The variety 'Dahlia Gardenetta Orange' offers bright orange flowers, making it suitable for small beds, patios, and home-and-garden displays. For those who prefer a diverse range of colors, the Decorative Dahlia Mixture (Super Sak) offers a blend of various shades, ideal for a vibrant home-and-garden lifestyle.
