@pitter-patter, how did you find your dahlia Night Butterfly? Does it support it’s flowers ok? Also what height did it grow to? Some say it’s 55cm others a metre.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
@Nollie I grow one Arabian Nights in the vegetable garden for cutting and the other is in a bed in part shade in clay. I've been surprised that it still comes up as the other dahlias in that bed died after a couple of winters outside. The veg garden one was feeble this year because the summer was hot and dry and I was away quite a bit so it didn't get enough water. I originally planted the veg garden one with other flowers for my daughter's wedding years ago.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
@Nollie I have a few dahlias which came back after being left out last winter tho not a dark one. Love it though I do have to water them regularly to keep them doing well. They're in a cuttings bed in the veggie plot.
Last spring I planted a few more in teh same bed, including one that looks very much like your Obsidian. The bees liked it but I found it underwhelming even tho I do prefer the open flowered forms. It remains to be seen as to whether or not it comes back.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Obsidian is also called Honka Black, does that ring a bell Obelixx? In what way did you find it underwhelming? I wondered if it wasn’t very floriferous or that it might just disappear in the border...
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
@Nollie I’m afraid my dahlia was caught by a harsh frost early last year and I don’t think it ever fully recovered. However, I did have a few beautiful flowers on it and I would like to try this variety again this year. My plant was definitely not bigger than 50cm, but, as I said, it had a rather rough start.
@Nollie - one of the survivors is a big, blousey, fiery orange dahlia which is covered in flowers for months. This dark one - label lost - got going very late and had very few flowers which were also much smaller. Maybe, if it survives this wet winter, it will be better as it gets older and bigger. The colour was good.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Sorry to hear that, @pitter-patter, it’s always a gamble in the ground here too, the ones I planted last year might have rotted after deluges of rain and flooded beds! Fingers crossed for all our dahlias this year.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/comment/2116148#Comment_2116148
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@pitter-patter, how did you find your dahlia Night Butterfly? Does it support it’s flowers ok? Also what height did it grow to? Some say it’s 55cm others a metre.
Last spring I planted a few more in teh same bed, including one that looks very much like your Obsidian. The bees liked it but I found it underwhelming even tho I do prefer the open flowered forms. It remains to be seen as to whether or not it comes back.
https://www.peternyssen.com/dahlia-mexican-star.html
https://www.farmergracy.co.uk/collections/dahlia-tubers-uk/products/dahlia-black-jack-tubers-uk