Dahlia Sam Hopkins

Dahlia Sam Hopkins produces opulent velvety deep red flowers with rich almost black wine-coloured reflections at the heart. This elegant decorative variety will bring relief to borders and large borders from July until the first autumn frosts. With beautiful stature, it blends perfectly with medium-sized grasses, the Tartan Dahlia and white asters, for example. Its flower is sumptuous in bouquets.

Dahlias are part of the Asteraceae family and are originally from the high plateaus of Mexico. At present, the thousands of horticultural varieties obtained by humans have invaded gardens all over the world, much to our delight.
The 'Sam Hopkins' variety, registered in 2006, is classified as a decorative Dahlia, which is a horticultural category defined by the shape of the flower. In this group, the coloured ligules of the head are arranged regularly in a spiral, they can be curved towards the stem or fringed, for example. In this Sam Hopkins variety, the inflorescences in heads measure 12 cm (5in) in diameter and their ligules or petals are barely incurved. Each flower, very dark red in colour, has a few small green floral bracts at its centre. The generous flowering occurs from July to October. The habit is bushy, the plant reaches up to 1.20 m (4ft) in height when in flower and 50-60 cm (20-24in) in width. The very branched stems are hollow but sturdy, and the leaves are opposite and pinnately lobed, meaning they are divided into 3 or 5 very dentate lobes. The leaves are a medium bluish-green in this variety, while the stems are slightly reddish at their tips.

To encourage repeat flowering, take care to remove faded flowers, or even better, regularly make large colourful bouquets by combining it with other varieties. 'Sam Hopkins', richly coloured, builds the decor of a dedicated border all by itself, but its flowers will be enhanced by lighter and more discreet blooms, such as those of catnip, agastaches, gauras, for example. In borders, this variety elegantly pairs with Purple Fountain Grass, and boldly with green coneflowers. The combination of red tones with the range of blues and purples is remarkable: think of phlox in mauve tones, Buenos Aires verbena, blue campanulas, and autumn asters, for example. This variety with very flowery stems allows you to embellish bouquets until late in the season.

As the star plant of borders and cottage gardens, Dahlias confidently accompany the most beautiful flowers, but are also appreciated alongside vegetable plants. In Mexico, this tuber was first cultivated as a root vegetable for consumption. However, its poor taste qualities assigned it the rank of an ornamental plant.