@Camelliad lovely. Apparently Cafe au Lait (1967) is the most popular dahlia ever cultivated and is the 'go to' cut flower for weddings.
I am growing Mignon and Mexican Star too. Do you find that MS has a slight chocolate scent in just opening blooms? I find that Karma Choc also have a cocoa smell, like chocolate cosmos. MS is the most popular with the bees this year. It's quite understated but (grown from tubers) started flowering in June, six weeks before the others, and I have appreciated the colour. Karma Choc is only just now in full blooming.
@Loxley I think I will try Matilda next year. I'm already making a new list. Oh dear.
@Fire I hadn't noticed the scent but to be fair it is the dahlia furthest from the house and in the least amount of sun - I wonder if that has an effect. I love the look of Karma Choc.
Yes I can well imagine re: Cafe au Lait. The flowers are huge and a beautiful colour. I will try them in the next bunch of cut flowers that I do and see how long they last.
@Loxley I love Blue Bayou. I ummed and ahhed about whether to grow it this year and decided against it on the basis that I had enough dahlias to protect from the slugs. Now I wish I had grown it. Will do so next year.
The flower looks similar to my Arabian Night but mine are no more than three feet tall. I didn’t concentrate on the GW programme so didn’t see them sorry.
Cafe au lait is definitely my favourite - I’m growing dahlias for the first time this year at the plot.
And the ones below are mixtures of Cornel, Wizard of Oz and David Howard
This one is cafe au lait royale
The Pom Pons seem to have a much better vase life - they could last up to one week. The rest, and in particular the dinner plates don’t seem to last beyond 5 days, and are at their best for 3 days in my experience. I use proprietary flower food. The one thing I don’t do is to change the water and cut the stems every 2-3 days - which is the advisable thing to do and supposedly prolongs the vase life.. but I haven’t got the patience.. besides these dahlias are such prolific bloomers that I end up with bucketfuls every 3-4 days.. thus there’s no incentive for me to ‘prolong’ their vase life.
Regarding slugs, I use organic slug pellets (ferric phosphate) and I have had hardly any slug damage. I don’t see many slugs around my allotment though.. but then I’m never there at night so..
I also have a few single varieties - totally tangerine and waltzing Mathilda - both gorgeous but I find them unsuitable for cutting - they last only 2 days or so (I presume that might be down to the fact that they get pollinated very quickly by the bees as they’re open centred’. I would grow these as ornamentals next year on my balcony instead of for cutting next year.
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Blue Bayou is my favourite flower, but it was so much later to flower than the others.
Waltzing Matilda wins on performance, hands down.
Lou Farman is a close second and I really like the big flat airy flowers.
Yes I can well imagine re: Cafe au Lait. The flowers are huge and a beautiful colour. I will try them in the next bunch of cut flowers that I do and see how long they last.
@Loxley I love Blue Bayou. I ummed and ahhed about whether to grow it this year and decided against it on the basis that I had enough dahlias to protect from the slugs. Now I wish I had grown it. Will do so next year.
I also have a few single varieties - totally tangerine and waltzing Mathilda - both gorgeous but I find them unsuitable for cutting - they last only 2 days or so (I presume that might be down to the fact that they get pollinated very quickly by the bees as they’re open centred’. I would grow these as ornamentals next year on my balcony instead of for cutting next year.
Dahlia Eveline