Dahlia Invitation

The Dahlia 'Invitation' is a variety from the small-flowered decorative group. It stands out with a rich terracotta palette, an unusual colour that will be appreciated in the garden as well as in a vase. This plant produces, from July to October, well-formed heads on sturdy stems, ideal for making cut flower arrangements. Easy to grow, it finds its place in a flowerbed alongside large perennials and other dahlias, but also in the vegetable garden.

The genus Dahlia belongs to the Asteraceae family and includes species native to the high plateaus of Mexico and Central America. 'Invitation' is a cultivar classified in the "Decorative" group with small flowers: its flowers are double, without an apparent central disc, formed of rather wide and slightly concave ligules or petals. These are heads approximately 11 cm in diameter. Their colour is a gradient from dark reddish terracotta at the centre, leaning towards rosy apricot on the edge of the petals. The plant forms a bushy clump 1 m to 1.10 m in height and 50-60 cm in width. It grows from a stump equipped with thick tuberised roots serving as storage organs. The foliage, medium green, is formed of opposite leaves, divided into ovate and dentate leaflets; the stems are herbaceous, fleshy. The aerial vegetation is destroyed by the first frost. The tubercles must be dug up in autumn and overwintered dry, protected from the cold.

To prolong flowering until autumn, cut off faded flowers as they appear. Create rich cut flower arrangements, by playing on the complementarity of colours and flower shapes. Mix several varieties of dahlias in a flowerbed or plant them in the rich, fresh soil of the vegetable garden. The flowers of the Dahlia Invitation will pair wonderfully with pastel pink tones (Dahlia 'Wizard of Oz'), or salmon tones (Dahlia 'Preference'), with white (Dahlia 'Fleurel', Gaura 'Whirling Butterflies'), with burgundy/chocolate tones (Dahlia 'Karma Choc', chocolate cosmos, scabious 'Chile Black'), with powdery mauve (Phlox 'Blue Paradise'), with cream (Dahlia 'Café au Lait'), and with very pale yellow (Coneflower 'Milkshake').

The scientific name Dahlia pays tribute to the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl, the name having been established at the end of the 18th century by A.-J. Cavanilles in Madrid. The national plant of Mexico, dahlia was known to the Aztecs as acocotli ("water cane"), its hollow stems and roots being used locally; its introduction to Europe was from Madrid at the end of the 18th century before it became a major ornamental plant.