Dahlia Star Surprise

The Dahlia ‘Star Surprise’ is a vigorous cactus dahlia, renowned for its large, airy flowers in soft tones, creamy yellow at the heart, blending into apricot pink towards the petal tips. They have a very decorative, tousled appearance, perfect for adding movement to summer scenes. In flower from summer until the frosts, ‘Star Surprise’ finds its place in the garden, but also in the cutting garden for homemade cut flower arrangements.

Belonging to the genus Dahlia, in the Asteraceae family, ‘Star Surprise’ is a tuberous perennial that is not very hardy: the tubercles must be protected from frost; they are lifted in autumn to be overwintered in a dry place. This variety is officially classified in the horticultural group of Cactus Dahlias, with a medium-sized flower (Medium Cactus), characterised by fully double heads with fine, pointed, and rolled ligulate florets for a large part of their length. The name ‘Star Surprise’ is accepted, while the spellings ‘Star’s Surprise’ or ‘Stars Surprise’ are commercial variants. This cultivar is a mutation of the cactus dahlia ‘Alfred Grille’; it was bred in the Netherlands by breeder Warmerdam in the late 1990s.
The plant forms an upright, bushy clump 90 to 120 cm in height and 50 to 60 cm in width. The stems, robust and well-ramified, bear fresh green foliage, divided into dentate segments. The vegetation is deciduous; the aerial parts dry out after the first frosts while the tubercle goes dormant. The flowers in heads, 10 to 15 cm in diameter, are borne on long stems. They feature a bright yellow centre that fades into salmon-pink petals, lighter at the tips, enhancing the "fireworks" effect. The flowering period extends from July to October, even until the first frosts.

If you take care to deadhead the spent flowers, you will benefit from a prolonged flowering period. Even more pleasant, create beautiful, lush cut flower arrangements with the generous dahlias by combining various varieties.
In the garden, this dahlia ‘Star Surprise’ displays a contemporary bohemian style. It is happily used at the back of borders, in a setting mixing ornamental grasses and airy perennials: its dishevelled pompons pair wonderfully with the airy inflorescences of Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Black Beauty’ or the purple spikes of Sanguisorba officinalis ‘Tanna’. In a more sophisticated register, pair ‘Star Surprise’ with other cactus dahlias like ‘Café de Paris’ or ‘Karma Sangria’ to create scenes in shades of pink and beige, in borders as well as in bouquets.

While dahlias are cultivated today primarily for their spectacular flowers, their Mexican ancestors were first valued for their edible tubercles, used as a vegetable by pre-Columbian peoples before Europe adopted them as border stars in the 19th century.