Dahlia Maya

Dahlia 'Maya', rarely seen, is a modest-sized but very floriferous variety, with a sensational pastel colour in romantic compositions. It produces beautifully double flowers, of a good size, composed of countless petals where the tender pink extends a light yellow base, while the heart of the flower, which appears slightly darker, is inhabited by a shade of apricot colour. It blooms for a long time, from summer to autumn. This variety will go well with pastel tones and will find its place in the centre of perennial borders or in a large pot on the patio. Its flowers allow for generous bouquets.

Dahlias are tuberous plants from the large Asteraceae family, originally from the high plateaus of Mexico. Currently, the approximately 25,000 horticultural varieties obtained by humans have arrived, to our great pleasure, in gardens all over the world. Dahlias are classified according to the shape of their flowers. 'Maya', introduced in 1986, is classified in the category of Decorative Dahlias. 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. In this variety, the heads are about 12 to 15 cm (5 to 6in) in diameter and their ligules are mostly pale pink, touched with yellow. The flowering takes place from July to October. The plant will reach a height of 80 cm (32in) and a width of 40 cm (16in), with a bushy and upright habit. The highly branched stems are hollow and the leaves are opposite, compound, meaning they are divided into 3 or 5 leaflets, which form very denticulate lobes. The leaves and stems are medium green.

To promote repeat flowering and extend the flowering period, make sure to remove faded flowers. Even better, regularly create attractive colourful bouquets by combining various varieties. The low height of this variety makes it suitable for the centre of perennial beds, to structure an ensemble composed of flowering shrubs and shorter perennials, but also for growing in large pots. The flowering of Echinaceas is perfect when accompanied by that of Dahlias, they occur simultaneously, as well as the flowering of perennial salvias for example. Also consider grasses (Miscanthus saccharifolius, Stipa arundinacea, Eragrostis trichodes) which take on beautiful colours in autumn.