Common name:Garden Dahlia
Family: Asteraceae, Aster
Height x width: 1-5' x 10-20"
Growth rate: moderate to fast
Foliage: opposite or whorled, simple to bipinnate, serrate margins, to 10" long
Flowers: horizontal or nodding heads, 2-3" across but larger in doubles, heads in 2s or 3s with 2-8 per stem, color varies, July through October or frost
Hardiness: annual
Soil: well-drained, moist
Light: sun, tolerates part shade
Pests and problems: tuber rots, wilts, viruses, botrytis mold, aphids, thrips, leaf hoppers, tarnished plant bug, stalk borer (most common pest, others less common)
Landscape habit, uses: borders massed or as specimen, cut flowers
Other interest: named in 1789 for Dr. Anders Dahl, a Swedish botanist and pupil of Linnaeus who made some of the original hybrids from plants brought to Sweden from Spain, and originally native to Mexico
Other culture: seed-grown cultivars are not very heat tolerant, bloom erratically and are ununiform generally; tuber-grown cultivars grow taller to 6' and may need staking, and generally have larger flowers to 12" across; divide dug clumps in spring before planting; force bud growth by planting a few days in moist peat moss prior to planting; plant 8" deep; remove all but one shoot for maximum flower size; avoid high nitrogen fertilizer to ensure blooms and not all leaves; dig a week after tops have frosted in fall; store in dry peat moss at 45-50ºF overwinter after dead foliage is removed.
Propagation: seed (28,000 seeds per ounce) for some cultivars, tubers for others
Species:
pinnata (pin-naa' tah)--common parent of many hybrid cultivars,
often crossed with coccinea
Cultivars:
Only the most popular and available of the 20,000 or more cultivars
are listed here. They can be classified by height into low (1-2½')
and tall (3-5'). They can be classified whether grown from seed or tuber.
Tuberous grown are classified by the Dahlia society into 10 classes according
to flower type.
Classes of tuberous dahlias:
1. Single flowered. 3-4" across flowers, bedding cultivars under 15" tall.
2. Anemone flowered. 3-4" across flowers, dense central tuft of erect tubular flowers, 3-4' tall.
3. Collarette. 4-6" across flowers with an inner ring (collar) of shorter flowers, 3-5' tall.
4. Water-lily flowered. 4-6" across flowers double and flat, 3½-4½' tall.
5. Decorative. 4-6" across flowers, double, 4-6' tall.
6. Ball. 4-6" across flowers in rounded ball shape, 3-5' tall.
7. Pompon. 2" across flowers, double, ball shaped, 3-4' tall.
8. Cactus flowered. 5-8" across flowers, double, long quillled rays, 3-5' tall.
9. Semicactus flowered. like cactus flowered only rays quilled only at tips.
10. Miscellaneous. includes several smaller groups:
a. orchid-- single, ray edges rolled down.
b. star-- single, 2-3 rows of incurved rays.
c. chrysanthemum--double, incurved rays.
d. lilliput-- like chrysanthemum only 1" wide flowers.
e. peony flowered--2-3 rows of flat rays around central disc.
| Cultivars | class | height | flowers | other |
| 'À la Mode' | 5 | tall | yellow to orange | |
| 'Ace of Hearts' | 2 | low | pink to rose | |
| 'Alabaster' | 5 | tall | white | |
| 'Albino' | 7 | low | white | |
| 'Alfred Grill' | 10b | tall | pink to rose | |
| 'All Triumph' | 9 | low | white | |
| 'Alstergruss' | 2 | low | yellow to orange | |
| 'Andrew Lockwood' | 7 | low | purple | |
| 'Apeldoorn' | 8 | tall | yellow to orange | |
| 'Arabian Night' | 5 | tall | red | |
| 'Arnheim' | 5 | low | red | |
| 'Arthur Godfrey' | 5 | tall | red | |
| 'Autumn Blaze' | 5 | tall | red | |
| 'Autumn Fairy' | 9 | low | yellow to orange | |
| 'Bach' | 8 | tall | yellow to orange | |
| 'Bambino' | 10e | low | mixed | |
| 'Banting' | 7 | low | yellow to orange | |
| 'Bell Boy' | 7 | low | red | |
| 'Berliner Kleene' | 5 | low | purple | |
| 'Betty Ann' | 7 | low | pink to rose | |
| 'Border Jewels' | seed | low | mix | doubles, semidoubles |
| 'Brio' | 2 | low | yellow to orange | |
| 'Canby Charm' | 5 | tall | pink to rose | |
| 'Celestia' | 7 | low | white | |
| 'Cheerio' | 8 | low | purple | |
| 'City of Wellston' | 5 | tall | purple | |
| 'Collarette Dandy' | 3 | low | mix | |
| 'Coltness' | 1 | low | mix | |
| 'Croydon Ace' | 5 | tall | yellow to orange | |
| 'D-Day' | 5 | tall | pink to rose | |
| 'Dahl Face' | seed | low | mix | large, single |
| 'Dandy' | 3 | low | red | spiky second petal layer |
| 'Dapper' | 10e | low | mix | |
| 'Deutschland' | 5 | tall | red | |
| 'Diablo' | seed | low | mix | double, bronze leaves |
| 'Diamond' | 5 | tall | yellow to orange | |
| 'Doxy' | 7 | low | white | |
| 'Duet' | 5 | tall | red | |
| 'Early Bird' | seed | low | mix | |
| 'Ellen Houston' | 5 | low | red | |
| 'Envy' | 5 | tall | red | |
| 'Eveline' | 5 | tall | white | |
| 'Fabel' | 2 | low | red | |
| 'Fascination' | 10e | low | pink to rose | |
| 'Figaro' | 5 | low | mix | common from seed |
| 'Flashlight' | 8 | low | yellow to orange | |
| 'Flying Saucer' | 8 | tall | mix | |
| 'Fresco' | seed | low | mix | double |
| 'Gerry Hoek' | 4 | low | pink to rose | |
| 'Glory of Heemstede' | 5 | tall | yellow to orange | |
| 'Good Earth' | 5 | tall | pink to rose | |
| 'Grand Prix' | 5 | tall | mix | |
| 'Harlequin' | seed | low | mix | bicolor, semidouble, early |
| 'Helga' | 8 | tall | red | |
| 'Holland's Festival' | 5 | tall | mix | |
| 'Honey' | 5 | low | pink to rose | |
| 'House of Orange' | 5 | tall | yellow to orange | |
| 'Indian Girl' | 7 | low | red | |
| 'Irene Van der Zwet' | 5 | low | yellow to orange | |
| 'Jersey Beauty' | 5 | tall | pink to rose | |
| 'Kelvin Floodlight' | 5 | tall | yellow to orange | |
| 'Lavender Perfection' | 5 | tall | purple | |
| 'Lawrence Welk' | 5 | tall | purple | |
| 'Lilac Shadow' | 5 | tall | purple | |
| 'Lilac Time' | 5 | tall | purple | |
| 'Lilac Veil' | 8 | tall | purple | |
| 'Little William' | 7 | low | red | |
| 'Little Willow' | 7 | low | white | |
| 'Lula Pattie' | 5 | tall | white | |
| 'Mary Elizabeth' | 5 | tall | red | |
| 'Miramar' | 5 | tall | red | |
| 'Mujaba' | 5 | tall | red | |
| 'Munich' | 5 | low | yellow to orange | |
| 'Murillo' | 1 | low | pink to rose | |
| 'My Love' | 9 | tall | white | |
| 'Nelly Geerlings' | 5 | low | red | |
| 'Octopus' | 10b | tall | mix | |
| 'Orange Julius' | 5 | tall | yellow to orange | |
| 'Otto's Thrill' | 5 | tall | pink to rose | |
| 'Park Princess' | 9 | low | pink to rose | |
| 'Piccolo' | seed | low | mix,bicolors | heat resistant |
| 'Playboy' | 5 | tall | yellow to orange | |
| 'Potgieter' | 7 | low | yellow to orange | |
| 'Preference' | 8 | low | pink to rose | |
| 'Pride of Berlin' | 7 | low | pink to rose | |
| 'Procyon' | 5 | tall | yellow to orange | |
| 'Purple Gem' | 8 | tall | purple | |
| 'Redskin' | 5 | low | mix | bronze leaves, AAS 1975 |
| 'Rigoletto' | 5 | low | mix | double, early, from seed |
| 'Rosa Bella' | 5 | low | purple | |
| 'Rosella' | 5 | tall | pink to rose | |
| 'Showpiece' | 5 | low | mix | |
| 'Siemon Doorents' | 5 | low | pink to rose | |
| 'Sisa' | 5 | low | yellow to orange | |
| 'Smokey' | 5 | tall | pink to rose | |
| 'Sneezy' | 1 | low | white | |
| 'Snow Country' | 5 | tall | white | |
| 'Snowflake' | 7 | low | white | |
| 'Summer Souvenir' | 7 | low | yellow to orange | |
| 'Sungold' | 7 | low | yellow to orange | |
| Sunny hybrids | seed | low | 3 colors | double, semidouble |
| 'Tartan' | 5 | tall | mix | |
| 'Thomas Edison' | 5 | tall | red | |
| 'Trendy' | 5 | tall | yellow to orange | |
| 'Venice' | 5 | low | red | |
| 'White Perfection' | 5 | tall | white | |
| 'Winner's Pride' | 5 | low | red | |
| 'Wittem' | 5 | low | white | |
| 'Yellow Cheer' | 5 | low | yellow to orange | |
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