Dahlia Cayenne

The 'Cayenne' decorative Dahlia is characterized by small but particularly graceful flowers. Their delicate colour, a pearly pinkish-white, is enhanced by a rounded shape and an elegant alveolate texture that closely resembles ball dahlias. This variety develops strong stems that do not bend under the weight of the flowers and are perfect for making bouquets. It has abundant and prolonged flowering, from July until the first frost, allowing for beautiful combinations in romantic compositions.

Dahlias are tuberous plants from the large Asteraceae family, originally native to the high plateaus of Mexico. Nowadays, the thousands of horticultural varieties obtained by humans have invaded gardens worldwide, much to our delight. Dahlias are classified based on the shape of their flowers. 'Cayenne' is classified in the category of decorative Dahlias. In this group, the colourful ligules of the flower head are arranged regularly in a spiral, they can be curved towards the stem or even fringed, for example. In this variety, the flower heads are only 9cm (4in) in diameter and their ligules are rather small, oval, concave, partially rolled up, and arranged regularly. The flowering period is from July to October-November. The plant will reach an average height of 1.10m (4ft) and a width of 50 to 60cm (20 to 24in), with a bushy and erect habit. The highly branched stems are hollow and the leaves are opposite, pinnatisect, meaning they are divided into 3 or 5 leaflets, which have very denticulate lobes. The leaves are fairly dark green and the stems are tinged with reddish-brown.

The medium size of this variety makes it suitable for the centre of mixed beds, to structure an ensemble composed of leafy shrubs and lower plants. Decorative Dahlias pair well with Gauras and Cleomes, which lighten their generous silhouette. The flowering of Echinaceas is perfect to accompany that of Dahlias, as well as that of autumn asters, for example.

To promote re-flowering and extend the flowering period, make sure to remove faded flowers. Even better, regularly create alluring colourful bouquets by combining various varieties. The 'Cayenne' flowers make graceful bouquets, with large-flowered roses or lilies.

As stars of cottage gardens, Dahlias are undoubtedly beautiful flowers. They are perfect in flowerbeds, but can also enhance vegetable gardens. In Mexico, this tuberous plant was initially cultivated as a root vegetable for consumption. Its poor taste quickly relegated it to the status of an ornamental plant. Since then, the interest in their beautiful exuberance has never waned.