Dahlias: Choosing the Best Varieties for Beginners

I am often asked about which dahlias a person should grow.  ‘’It really depends,’ is often my answer, as there are a lot of factors to consider, including a gardener’s experience with growing dahlias.  New growers often focus on the colour scheme desired in the garden or the size and form of dahlia blooms. However, if someone is newer to dahlias, there are a couple of additional considerations to keep in mind when choosing what dahlias to grow.

Firstly, not all dahlias produce the same number of blooms.  Some varieties produce many flowers each week (around 5 or more), whereas other varieties will only produce 1 or 2.  I like to suggest varieties that are very floriferous (produce lots) to new growers so they can reap the benefits of growing dahlias fully.  In general, the larger the flower that is produced the fewer produced each week. Dinnerplate dahlias are a lot of fun int he garden. but you will often get fewer blooms off of these plants each week.  Whereas some of the small pom pom sized dahlias will be loaded with a dozen little flowers creating a beautiful display.

Secondly, some varieties take longer to bloom than others.  Generally, my dahlias start blooming around the middle of July (with me starting them indoors in April), progressively producing more and more blooms in August and September.  However, there are some varieties that just seem to take forever to get that first bloom.  There are certain varieties that I have stopped growing over the years because of this, as our season just doesn’t seem long enough for them. Dahlias are hybridized all over the world, and some of them come from areas with much longer growing seasons than our shorter season here in Canada.  It can therefore be helpful knowing if they are early bloomers or if the varitey was developed in Canada, which means it more likely atches our shorter growing seasons.

Thirdly, a person may want to consider if they are going to be cutting the flowers for bouquets.  Dahlias make lovely cut flowers; however, they do not exhibit the longest vase life.  Generally speaking, ball form dahlias or formal decorative dahlias, with a more tight petal form, last longer in the vase than the waterlily formed dahlias, open dahlias, or large dinner plate dahlias.

Another factor that the home gardener may want to consider is whether they enjoy having flowers that are great for local pollinator bugs.  If so, then the open pollinator varieties can be a great choice as some of them are quite floriferous and the bees are often found sleeping on them at night or early morning. (HY Cherryheart dahlia comes to mind)

One last consideration is the hardiness of the variety.  Though dahlias are generally all grouped together with how hardy they are, there are a few that just seem ‘tougher’ in that they can take a bit more over or under watering, will produce more shoots and tubers, and just seem to thrive a bit more in the garden from year to year.

Given all of these factors, the following 10 varieties are some of the dahlias I have found to be the quite floriferous, hardy and earlier producing than others, adding lots of beauty and joy to the garden! (Though there are many more I could include in this list, these ones provide a bit of diversity as well.)

Coralie Dahlias (with a few peach Nathalie G)

• Coralie: This dahlia has been around for awhile (since 1982) and has been quite popular among cut flower growers over the years.  It is an early producer in the garden and always has multiple booms on it.  The colours can work well with many other flowers making it a good flower for bouquets as well.  This dahlia produces good tubers that store well over the winter for growers who are learning to store tubers.

Celia dahlia blooming with Coralie in the background

• Cecil: I have had this one since the beginning of my dahlia growing and it has never let me down.  It is always producing flowers, and seems to be another hardy dahlia that just keeps growing.  I also like the bright colours of Cecil to give bouquets a more ‘tropical’ feel, but it can also work well with fall vibe as well.

Ferncliff Rusty Dahlia

Ferncliff Rusty: Ferncliff dahlias are known to be floriferous, strong stemmed and hardy.  I would recommend any of the Ferncliff varieties we carry.  Ferncliff Copper is one of my favorites though it produces slightly less flowers than Ferncliff Rusty, which made this list.

Open pollinator dahlia Alpen Diamond

• Alpen Cherub or Alpen Diamond: These two varieties are my bee magnet recommendations:  Both are loaded with flowers that keep the bees coming.  Open pollinator dahlias are not long-lasting cut flowers, but this is a great garden variety.

Alpen Cherub Dahlia produces lots of blooms for the bees

Orange dahlias including camano buzz, maarn, valley rust bucket

• Valley Rust Bucket, Camano Buzz, or Maarn: Because I can’t choose one, I am including all three of these as excellent orange varieties.  I would include at least one in garden as dahlias bloom up to first frost, and by then, orange becomes a must have colour to add to your own cut flower bouquets.

Orsett Beauty Dahlias

• Orsett Beauty: My sweet aunt always grows white or light-coloured dahlias in her garden beds and it adds such an elegant touch to the garden. As well, if looking for any wedding flowers, white is a must have.  Orsett Beauty, is a good producer of nice sized blooms that work well in floral designs and add brightness to the garden.

Wine Eyed Jill Dahlia

• Wine Eyed Jill: I love this dahlia! It produces a ton of flowers, stores well, good tubers, and has some unique colouration that adds interest to bouquets. It works really well with Coralie in arrangements or beside each other in the garden.

Jowie Winnie Dahlia with Peaches N’ Cream

• Jowey Winnie. If I could only grow one dahlia, it might be this one. It is an amazing workhorse, producing lots of blooms that work with so many other colours.  Jowey dahlias are know to be great dahlias.  And Jowey Paula is another favorite of mine that I would grow if I could only chose a limited number of varieties.

Chilson’s Pride Dahlia

• Chilson’s Pride: This dahlia is a bit of an unusual formed dahlia which can add some visual interest to bouquets or the garden.  Chilson’s pride is another one that is always heavily loaded with flowers through the season and works well with many bridal colours.

Original Hybrids by Blossom Hill Gardens. BHG Sun Series dahlias

• BHG varieties: Though these are newer to the market than some other dahlias that were hybridized over 50 years ago (such as Chilson’s Pride-introduced 1954), these dahlias were bred on our farm with hand pollination strategies to elicit the previously mentioned desirable characteristics.  BHG Peach Sunset, BHG Quiet Sunrise, and BHG Sunkissed are particularly floriferous, hardy and have long strong stems.  They also all share the formal decorative form, making them reasonably long lasting in bouquets for a dahlias.

A few other noteworthy dahlias that did not quite make this top ten list but are also floriferous are:

• Cornel & Cornel Bronze dahlias
• French Doll
• Braken Palomino
• Blyton Softer Gleam
• Colorado classic
• Fuzzy Wuzzy
• Just peachy
• Karma chocolate
• Zundert Mystery Fox
• Valley porcupine
• Nathalie G

Ultimately though, a gardener can receive such pleasure in growing any of the dahlias, that it can be worth experimenting with a variety of different ones with various colours or forms to see what you like best. If you are new to gardening or growing dahlias, make sure to check out our dahlia growing page for more tips and sign up for our newsletter to help you get started on the right path for these amazing flowers. Take some time to research a bit more about growing them, grant yourself some grace as you are learning, and keep trying new varieties and growing techniques to see what works for you!

Happy Gardening,

Diana, Blossom Hill Gardens

Me with Karma Chocolate Dahlias