Dahlia Twyning's White Chocolate

The Dahlia 'Twyning's White Chocolate' possesses all the charm of Collarette Dahlias, highly appreciated for their trim of tiny petals delicately highlighting the heart of the flower. This one is pure white, with wide petals and immaculate collar opening up to a beautiful orange heart finely circled in yellow. It blooms all summer on a very beautiful bushy plant adorned with medium green foliage. This variety, easy-to-combine with all the flowers in the garden, is simply sensational in a white garden, in the company of tall grasses, asters, penstemons.

Dahlias belong to the asteraceae family and are originally from the high plateaus of Mexico. At present, the some 25,000 horticultural varieties obtained by humans have invaded, much to our delight, gardens all over the world. The variety 'Twyning's White Chocolate', introduced in England in 2006, is a Dahlia classified among Collarette Dahlias, which is a horticultural category defined by the shape of the flower. In this group, the coloured ligules of the head (what we generally call the flower but actually conatins many small flowers) are regularly arranged in a crown around a collar of tiny petals surrounding the central disc. The flowers of 'Twyning's White Chocolate', measuring 12 cm (5in) wide, show outer ligules of pure white, and those in the centre are also white but touched with yellow at the base. The almost orange heart of the flower makes it even brighter. The flowering takes place from July to October, on abundant foliage. The habit is bushy and dense, with the plant reaching about 1 m (3ft) in height and 60 cm (24in) in width in one season. The very branching stems are hollow and the leaves are opposite, pinnately divided into 3 or 5 very toothed lobes. The leaves and stems are medium green.

To encourage repeat flowering, take care to remove faded flowers, or better yet, regularly make large colourful bouquets by combining it with other varieties. 'Twyning's White Chocolate', with its white flowers, goes well with all the flowers in the garden. It has its place in a white garden or a romantic border. This Dahlia will create bright spots in perennial borders or in front of taller shrubs. It can be mixed with tall grasses (Miscanthus, Panicum, Deschampsia cespitosa etc.), Rudbeckia, Salvias, Echinaceas, Cosmos, Baptisia (Baptisia australis 'Alba') that bloom at the same time. It will also harmonise well with Daylilies or Asters. 

As a star plant in borders and cottage 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 assigned it the status of an ornamental plant. Since then, the interest in their beautiful exuberance has never waned.