Dahlia Giggles

The Dahlia 'Giggles[' is a tall variety, particularly floriferous, offering a unique combination of colours that stands out in flower beds. It produces numerous small flowers that catch the eye, with sunset-coloured petals surrounding a central collar of small petals in a nuanced lavender-tinged orange, arranged around a large yellow heart. 'Giggles' forms a large flowering bush that is ideal for the background of flower beds. Its stunning flowers last a long time in bouquets.

Dahlias belong to the aster family and are originally from the high plateaus of Mexico. Currently, the approximately 25,000 horticultural varieties created by humans have invaded gardens worldwide, much to our delight.

The 'Giggles' variety, introduced in 1998, is classified as a collarette dahlia due to the architecture of its inflorescences. This is a horticultural category defined by the shape of the flower. In this group, the colourful ligules of the head are arranged regularly in a crown, around a collar of tiny petals surrounding the central disk. The flowers of 'Giggles', which are 8 to 10cm (3 to 4in) wide, have outer ligules in a fairly soft salmon orange, while those in the centre are a lavender-tinged pink-orange. The flower's golden heart makes it even more radiant. The remarkably abundant flowering occurs from July to October. It has a bushy and upright habit. The highly branched stems are hollow, and the leaves are opposite and pinnately divided into 3 or 5 highly toothed lobes. The leaves and stems are dark green.

To encourage repeat flowering, make sure to remove faded flowers, or even better, regularly create large colourful bouquets by combining it with other varieties.

The 'Giggles' variety, with its sunset-toned flowers, pairs particularly well with blue or mauve flowers and silver or purple foliage. In the back of flower beds, this dahlia will create colourful spots alongside echinaceas, foxtail amaranths, or pink cannas, for example, which bloom at the same time, as well as daylilies and asters. Tall grasses with autumn colours like Phormium tenax 'Purpureum' and Imperata 'Red Baron' will provide support for its opulent growth while enhancing its flowering.

A star plant in borders and herb gardens, dahlias confidently accompany the most beautiful flowers but are also appreciated alongside vegetable plants. In Mexico, this tuber was initially cultivated as a root vegetable for consumption. However, its poor taste relegated it to the status of an ornamental plant. Since then, the interest in their beautiful exuberance has never waned.