Dahlia Babylon Bronze

Dahlia 'Babylon Bronze' will delight enthusiasts of opulent flowers with exceptional colours. The fully double flowers of this award-winning variety are truly enormous and as wide as a plate. They boast a sumptuous orange colour with bronze reflections, revealing traces of coppery-pink, rosy-brown or apricot, depending on the nature of the soil and the climate. Despite their size, these sublime blooms show excellent resistance to rain. The robust plant produces very rigid stems. It flowers from July until the first frost.

Dahlias belong to the Asteraceae family and are originally from the high plateaus of Mexico. There are currently thousands of horticultural varieties that have conquered gardens worldwide. They are tender perennials with fleshy tubers.

Dahlias are classified according to the shape of their flowers. 'Babylon Bronze' is classified as a giant, due to the size of its heads. It is also classed as a decorative dahlia. In this group, the coloured ligules of the head are regularly arranged in a spiral. They can be curved towards the stem or fringed, for example. The flowers of 'Babylon Bronze' are 20 to 25cm (8 to 10in) in diameter. Their ligules are oval to lanceolate, slightly pleated and folded, with a fine texture. Flowering takes place from July to October-November. Depending on growing conditions, the orange colour of this variety can take different shades ranging from salmon to brown and honey, with the centre of the inflorescence always being darker. The plant will reach an average height of 1m (3ft), and a width of 60 to 70cm (24 to 28in), with a bushy and erect habit. The branching stems are hollow and the leaves are divided into 3 or 5 denticulate leaflets. The leaves are a fairly dark green and the stems are somewhat tinged with purple.

Remove faded flowers to encourage new blooms. You can use cut flowers to make colourful bouquets, combining them with other varieties. 

Decorative dahlias pair well with gauras and cleomes, which will lighten their generous silhouette and abundant flowering. The dazzling flowers of 'Babylon Bronze' create a range of combinations in floral compositions. The beautiful stature of this variety makes it suitable for the back of perennial borders, structuring a composition of flowering shrubs (cotinus, compact winged euonymus, loropetalum) and shorter perennials. Echinaceas and perennial salvias are perfect companions for dahlias. Also consider planting it with ornamental grasses (Miscanthus saccharifolius, Stipa arundinacea, Eragrostis trichodes), which take on beautiful colours in autumn.

Dahlias are stars of borders and ornamental gardens, confidently accompanying the most beautiful flowers. However, they are also appreciated alongside vegetable plants. In Mexico, this tuberous plant was first cultivated as a root vegetable for consumption. Its poor taste qualities quickly saw it categorised as an ornamental plant. Since then, the interest in their beautiful exuberance has never waned.