Dahlias offer an endless variety of colors with their beautiful flowers. We have summarized the most beautiful and popular varieties for you.
Dahlias (Dahlia) are among the ornamental plants with the most unusual flower shapes and colors in this country. They are valued by hobby gardeners due to their particularly long flowering period, as the plants often flower well into autumn. But which is actually the right type of dahlia for my garden? We answer these and many other questions on the subject of variety diversity below.
Buy dahlias: as tubers or in pots?
As with many other flowering plants in the garden, the first question to ask here is: should you buy tubers and plant them, or save yourself the work and buy a plant in a pot straight away? First of all, it can be said that buying tubers is both cheaper and quicker, as they can be purchased at any garden center or hardware store. Planting your own tubers generally requires little effort. A decisive advantage of the purchased plant, on the other hand, is that the dahlia blooms earlier due to the advance in time. However, if you prefer bulbs in early spring (March), you can shorten the time to flowering by a few weeks this way too.
Dahlia bulbs: don't forget to dig up in autumn
The following applies to outdoor cultivation: To overwinter dahlias, the tubers have to be dug up every year in autumn to protect them from frost during the cold season. You can skip this step with potted dahlias - however, the pot with the bulb must be placed in a frost-free place.
Dahlia varieties: discover endless variety
To give you an overview of the variety of dahlia varieties, we present the most important ones here. Dahlias fall into a variety of categories based on flower shape:
- Anemone Flowered Dahlias: Unusual appearance with tubular petals in the center andflat at the edge; often bicolored; Popular varieties: 'Honey' (red-yellow), 'Siemen Doorenbosch' (pink-yellow)
- Ball Dahlias: Round and small flowers; characteristic spherical shape; slightly curled petals; Popular varieties: 'Peter' (pink), 'Marble Ball' (red-white)
- Single Flowering Dahlias: Single flowers with few petals; very original appearance; also includes the popular small mignon dahlias; ideal for pot culture; Popular Varieties: 'Mount Noddy' (purple), 'Sneezy' (white)
- Ruffed Dahlias: Flat flowers of large and smaller, offset petals; collar-like appearance; Popular Varieties: 'Night Butterfly' (dark red), 'Don Lorenzo' (red and cream)
- Staghorn Dahlias: Fringed-cleaved and protruding petals; Popular Varieties: 'Galaxy' (Purple), 'Alauna Clair-Obscur' (Dark Purple-White)
- Cactus Dahlias: Round flower heads with pointed petals; "spiky" look and great variety of colors; Popular varieties: 'Cheerio' (red-white), 'Joker' (light yellow-pink), 'City of Rotterdam' (orange-red, perfect for pots)
- Pompom Dahlias: Round flower with petals fully curled; very decorative; Popular varieties: 'Rocco' (purple), 'Tip Top Wien' (light pink-dark red)
- Orchid-flowered Dahlias: Pointed outward-pointing petals; both simple and double varieties; Popular varieties: 'Pink Giraffe' (pink), 'Honka Red' (red)
- Ornamental Dahlias: Includes many different double varieties; closely standing petals; very decorative; Popular variety: 'Arabian Night' (dark red)
- Waterlily Dahlias: Flat bloom with petals pointing outwards; similar to a water lily; Popular varieties: 'Paso Doble' (red-yellow), 'Creme de Cassis' (pink-purple)
- Semicactus Dahlias: Similar to Cactus Dahlias but with wider and more open petals; Popular Varieties: 'Dutch Explosion' (white-pink), 'Aramis' (dark red)
To ensure that your dahlias bloom beautifully, here are our best tips for flowering and he althy dahlias.