Dahlia Melody Mambo

The Dahlia 'Melody Mambo' is a small decorative dahlia that stands out from afar for its particularly dark red, perfectly uniform and velvety flowering, not fading in the sun and excellent resistance to bad weather. Its very double and very full flowers succeed each other from summer to autumn, above a compact and well-branched bush dressed in dark green foliage. This versatile variety easily fits into a decorative garden, a flowering pot, or even a vegetable garden, to enrich the supply of bouquet flowers.

Dahlias belong to the asteraceae family and are originally from the high plateaus of Mexico. At present, the few 25,000 horticultural varieties obtained by humans have invaded, to our great pleasure, gardens all over the world.
The variety 'Melody Mambo' is part of the horticultural series 'Melody', developed for its compact and branched habit and its floribundity. It is a semi-dwarf dahlia, it will not exceed 55 cm (22in) in all directions. It is also classified among decorative dahlias, which is a horticultural category defined by the shape of the flower. In this group, the coloured ligules of the capitulum are arranged regularly in a spiral, they can be bent towards the stem or curled for example. The flowers of 'Melody Mambo' are 10 to 11 cm (4in) in diameter. The golden heart of the flower only appears late, just before wilting. The flowering takes place from July to October. The habit is bushy and compact, not requiring staking. The very branched stems are hollow and the leaves are opposite, pinnately compound, meaning they are divided into 3 or 5 very toothed lobes. The leaves and stems are dark green with a bluish hue.

To encourage flowering again, make sure to cut off faded flowers, or even better, regularly make large colorful bouquets by associating it with other varieties. 'Melody Mambo' pairs particularly well with white and orange flowers. In the front of borders, this dahlia will form colourful spots alongside Echinaceas, for example, which bloom at the same time, as well as Hemerocallis or even dwarf annual sunflowers. This modest-sized variety is particularly suited for pot cultivation, to easily adorn the terrace or balcony.

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 tuberous plant was first cultivated as a root vegetable for consumption. But its poor taste qualities assigned it the status of an ornamental plant. Since then, interest in their beautiful exuberance has never waned.