Dahlia Star Surprise
Dahlia Star Surprise
Dahlia Star Surprise
Cactus dahlia
Back-to-school special offer!
Get €10 off for every €50 you spend! And get up to €40 off on a single order.
How does it work?
1. Shop your favourites
Add your favourite plants to your basket. For every €50 you spend (excluding delivery charges, store credit and the plastic-free option), you’ll receive a €10 voucher.
€50 spent = €10 voucher
€100 spent = €20 voucher
€150 spent = €30 voucher
€200 spent = €40 voucher
2. Place your order
Once your basket reaches one of the spending thresholds, place your order. You can even choose your delivery date!
3. Receive your voucher
As soon as your order has been shipped, you’ll receive an email containing your personal voucher code and its value.
4. Use it on your next order
Your voucher is valid for 90 days from the date you receive it. It can be used once only, on a new order worth at least the value of the voucher, excluding delivery charges.
Please note: Vouchers can be combined with other offers, but cannot be split or refunded.
This plant carries a 6 months recovery warranty
More information
We guarantee the quality of our plants for a full growing cycle, and will replace at our expense any plant that fails to recover under normal climatic and planting conditions.
Would this plant suit my garden?
Set up your Plantfit profile →
Description
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.
Plant habit
Flowering
Foliage
Botanical data
Dahlia
Star Surprise
Asteraceae
Cactus dahlia
Dahlia 'Star Type' Star Surprise
Cultivar or hybrid
Planting and care
Dahlia 'Star Surprise' is easy to grow in all regions. For generous flowering, it is good to follow a few simple rules: plant the tubercles in full sun after the last frosts; rich, cool, and well-drained soils are perfect. However, stagnant moisture would encourage the tubercles to rot. Do not hesitate to amend the soil with compost and sand if needed. Work the soil deeply and enrich it, for example, with ground horn or dried blood. Place your tubercle and crumble the soil well to fill in without air pockets. Your dahlia should be covered with about 6 cm of soil. At the end of planting, water thoroughly once, then repeat this watering regularly for the first 6 weeks to aid rooting.
Dahlias are sensitive to cold and need to be overwintered. In November, the first frosts blacken the foliage; this is the time to lift them. Dig up the tubercles carefully. Remove as much soil as possible. Allow the foliage to dry so that the tubercles can replenish their reserves. Then cut the stems to 10 cm. Spread your bulbs in a crate on newspaper. Store them in a frost-free, dry, cool, and dark place, such as a frost-free garage or an attic. In southern regions, near the coast, experiencing only a few frosty days per year, it is possible to leave them in place. In this case, simply cover the soil with a carpet of leaves or straw as protection.
Tall Dahlias, with hollow stems, do not withstand wind or heavy rain well. To overcome this drawback, you can stake them, but, you must agree, it is not very aesthetic. On the other hand, by pinching the stems early or removing the axial flower buds, you will spread the habit of the plant, which will offer more resistance to bad weather. At the same time, you thus channel the influx of sap onto a single flower, which will become larger and stronger.
Planting period
Intended location
Care
Planting & care advice
This item has not been reviewed yet - be the first to leave a review about it.
Recently viewed products
Haven't found what you were looking for?
Hardiness is the lowest winter temperature a plant can endure without suffering serious damage or even dying. However, hardiness is affected by location (a sheltered area, such as a patio), protection (winter cover) and soil type (hardiness is improved by well-drained soil).
The flowering period indicated on our website applies to countries and regions located in USDA zone 8 (France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, etc.)
It will vary according to where you live:- In zones 9 to 10 (Italy, Spain, Greece, etc.), flowering will occur about 2 to 4 weeks earlier.
- In zones 6 to 7 (Germany, Poland, Slovenia, and lower mountainous regions), flowering will be delayed by 2 to 3 weeks.
- In zone 5 (Central Europe, Scandinavia), blooming will be delayed by 3 to 5 weeks.
In temperate climates, pruning of spring-flowering shrubs (forsythia, spireas, etc.) should be done just after flowering.
Pruning of summer-flowering shrubs (Indian Lilac, Perovskia, etc.) can be done in winter or spring.
In cold regions as well as with frost-sensitive plants, avoid pruning too early when severe frosts may still occur.
The planting period indicated on our website applies to countries and regions located in USDA zone 8 (France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands).
It will vary according to where you live:
- In Mediterranean zones (Marseille, Madrid, Milan, etc.), autumn and winter are the best planting periods.
- In continental zones (Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, etc.), delay planting by 2 to 3 weeks in spring and bring it forward by 2 to 4 weeks in autumn.
- In mountainous regions (the Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathians, etc.), it is best to plant in late spring (May-June) or late summer (August-September).
The harvesting period indicated on our website applies to countries and regions in USDA zone 8 (France, England, Ireland, the Netherlands).
In colder areas (Scandinavia, Poland, Austria...) fruit and vegetable harvests are likely to be delayed by 3-4 weeks.
In warmer areas (Italy, Spain, Greece, etc.), harvesting will probably take place earlier, depending on weather conditions.
The sowing periods indicated on our website apply to countries and regions within USDA Zone 8 (France, UK, Ireland, Netherlands).
In colder areas (Scandinavia, Poland, Austria...), delay any outdoor sowing by 3-4 weeks, or sow under glass.
In warmer climes (Italy, Spain, Greece, etc.), bring outdoor sowing forward by a few weeks.