Photos of Dahlias 2024

Hi @katecat58 I bought some dahlia tubers from Sarah Raven last year and when they flowered they weren’t anything like what they were meant to be. I sent a photo of it to Sarah Raven to ask what it was and they replied with apologies, a refund and a suggestion as to what dahlia it was.
It can be a bit annoying when you get a mislabelled dahlia … last year I’d carefully planned a colour scheme and I ended up with a large dahlia plant in the middle which completely clashed with the other colours

 

Thanks @CatDouch, I have already contacted Sarah Raven and been given a refund. I didn't think to ask if they knew what this one is. I agree that it's annoying!

 

Not sure which Dahlias these are … last year I ordered Cafe au Lait Twist but when they bloomed they looked more like Cafe au Lait Royale.

I’ve noticed that as the Cafe au Lait plant/tubers get older they throw out different colours, so not sure which one this is. It was labelled and stored from last year by me as Cafe au Lait!

 

Apparently dahlia flowers are not genetically stable. I first came across it when I bought a species dahlia D excelsa grows to 8 ft + and has pink single flowers. When I got mine it was already 6 ft+ but then produced a double flower, colour as expected. I enquired at the nursery and was assured it was correctly labelled, enquiring on a forum I was introduced to the idea of flower stability in dahlias.
I found this which may be of interest: Can Dahlias Change Color?

 

How interesting @NigelJ I had no idea about “colour fluidity” and very interesting that they use Cafe au Lait as an example. Now I know about it I shall just enjoy it, thank you

 

@CatDouch Those look a lot like the Cafe au Lait I had last year. Sadly my three tubers didn’t come back from last year and the three new ones I bought this year are miserably small plants with few leaves and no flowers. At least Red Labyrinth survived the winter stored inside and although smaller, they have re-flowered

 

There’s still time for your Cafe au Lait @Wild_Violet one of mine hasn’t really got going yet but I’m always optimistic Your Red Labyrinch is beautiful!

 

That's very interesting @NigelJ. It would explain the appearance of a late purchase I made this year. I didn't like the look of it on the label but needed something quickly so I took a chance with a small plant. Here's the results. It's actually what I was hoping for, perfect for a container and lots of flowers!

 

I don’t know a dahlia from my left elbow and I’m not the sort of person to faff around with digging stuff up and storing it over winter and remembering when to hunt it out and replant it, but I saw one today that was really stunning. It was in the front garden of a little cottage high up in the Peak District hills and you could see it from up the road. When I got closer I saw that it was covered in bumble and honey bees and little hover flies. A delight.

I’ve looked it up and it’s called “Pooh”, which sounds a bit unkind until you see the spelling.

Dahlia 'Pooh' | Thompson & Morgan

 

Lots of my favourite Cafe au Lait flowers out at the moment.


These are a mixture of Cornel Brons, Wizard of Oz and Jill.

 

'Ambition' is now getting into it's stride. It works well with the dark sw. peas beside it



Others are still very slow, but hopefully there'll be some flowers on them before October!
They absolutely have to be stored inside here. No chance of survival if left out.

If I'd had more plants, I'd have tried one or two right against the house wall where there's more shelter from weather, but even there, it's the slugs as the new growth emerges that are the biggest problem. I stuck one in there in spring [a tougher one] and it's never grown beyond half an inch because of slugs.

 

Twynings After Eight

 

A few more dahlias flowering nicely starting with “Arabian Night.”

 

First flower on ‘Jowey Winnie’

 

A second flowering for "Wishes and Dreams"


And this one was supposed to be "Edge of Joy" but looks nothing like... tuber bought in a supermarket. Any suggestions?