Dahlia Painted Lady
Dahlia Painted Lady
Dahlia Painted Lady
Decorative dahlia
Back-to-school special offer!
Get €10 off for every €50 you spend! And get up to €40 off on a single order.
How does it work?
1. Shop your favourites
Add your favourite plants to your basket. For every €50 you spend (excluding delivery charges, store credit and the plastic-free option), you’ll receive a €10 voucher.
€50 spent = €10 voucher
€100 spent = €20 voucher
€150 spent = €30 voucher
€200 spent = €40 voucher
2. Place your order
Once your basket reaches one of the spending thresholds, place your order. You can even choose your delivery date!
3. Receive your voucher
As soon as your order has been shipped, you’ll receive an email containing your personal voucher code and its value.
4. Use it on your next order
Your voucher is valid for 90 days from the date you receive it. It can be used once only, on a new order worth at least the value of the voucher, excluding delivery charges.
Please note: Vouchers can be combined with other offers, but cannot be split or refunded.
This plant carries a 6 months recovery warranty
More information
We guarantee the quality of our plants for a full growing cycle, and will replace at our expense any plant that fails to recover under normal climatic and planting conditions.
Would this plant suit my garden?
Set up your Plantfit profile →
Description
The Dahlia 'Painted Lady' (or 'Fern Ridge Painted Lady') is a bicolour decorative dahlia which heads appear to have been hand-painted. Its medium-sized flowers are splashed and striated with purplish-red on a cream to very pale pink background. It forms an upright, well-branched clump that produces numerous flowers throughout the summer for borders or cut flower arrangements. Easy to pair with light or dark shades, for example with roses, asters, and statice.
Dahlias belong to the Asteraceae family and are native to the high plateaus of Mexico and Central America; they are tuberous perennials. In our gardens, they behave as tender perennials: the plant disappears in winter but survives as fleshy tubers that must be overwintered frost-free.
'Painted Lady' belongs to the horticultural group of Decorative Dahlias, characterised by fully double flowers with flat or slightly incurved ligules, completely concealing the central disc. This cultivar is registered under the name 'Fern Ridge Painted Lady', with 'Painted Lady' recognised as a synonym. It was bred in the United States by hybridiser R. Wilson in the early 1990s and officially registered in 2014 in the international dahlia register. It is often presented as part of the "Painted family", a small series of bicolour decorative dahlias with striated or spotted petals, which also includes varieties like 'Painted Madam' or 'Painted Girl'.
The plant forms a bushy clump, upright, reaching 80 to 100 cm in height, sometimes up to 1.20 m in fertile soil, with a spread of 50 to 60 cm. The green, sturdy, and relatively thick stems bear pinnate leaves, divided into dentate, ovate lobes of a clear medium green. The flower buds open into double flowers, 10-12 cm in diameter, composed of rounded "petals" or ligules, slightly incurved inwards, neatly arranged in several ranks. Their colouring is quite unusual: a white to cream or very pale pink background, overlaid with streaks, flames, and speckles of purplish-red to ruby, each head showing a slightly different pattern. Flowering begins in July and continues uninterrupted until the first autumn frosts, provided faded flowers are regularly removed.
The "splashed" flowers of this dahlia are highlighted by almost all black varieties like the Dahlia 'Arabian Night' or 'Black Destiny', in borders as well as in vases. A very contemporary scene can be created by pairing it with a coneflower 'JS Engeltje' Pretty Parasols and the spikes of Sanguisorba 'Proud Mary'. In borders, plant it among ornamental grasses such as Panicum virgatum 'Purple Breeze' or perennials with grey foliage. In a vase, a few stems of this dahlia, accompanied by black flowers and small, light umbels, are enough to create sophisticated and very contemporary cut flower arrangements.
Long cultivated by the pre-Columbian peoples of Mexico for their edible tubers and medicinal use, dahlias were introduced to Europe in the late 18th century and are now the national flower of Mexico since 1963.
Plant habit
Flowering
Foliage
Botanical data
Dahlia
Painted Lady
Asteraceae
Decorative dahlia
Dahlia dahlia 'Fern Ridge Painted Lady'
Cultivar or hybrid
Planting and care
The Dahlia 'Painted Lady' is easy to grow in all regions. For generous flowering, it is good to follow a few simple rules: plant the tubercles in full sun after the last frosts; rich, cool, and well-drained soils are perfect. However, stagnant moisture would encourage the tubercles to rot. Do not hesitate to amend the soil with compost and sand if needed. Work the soil deeply and enrich it, for example, with ground horn or dried blood. Place your tubercle and crumble the soil well to fill in without air pockets. Your dahlia should be covered with about 6 cm of soil. At the end of planting, water thoroughly once, then repeat this watering regularly for the first 6 weeks to help with rooting.
Dahlias are sensitive to cold and need to be overwintered. In November, the first frosts blacken the foliage; this is the time to lift them. Dig up the tubercles carefully. Remove as much soil as possible. Allow the foliage to dry so that the tubercles can replenish their reserves. Then cut the stems to 10 cm. Spread your bulbs in a crate on newspaper. Store them in a frost-free, dry, cool, and dark place, such as a frost-free garage or an attic. In southern regions, near the coast, experiencing only a few frosty days per year, it is possible to leave them in place. In this case, simply cover the soil with a carpet of leaves or straw as protection.
This large-sized Dahlia, with its hollow stems, is still sensitive to strong winds or heavy rain. To overcome this drawback, you can stake it, but, you must agree, it is not very aesthetic. On the other hand, by pinching the stems early or removing the axial flower buds, you will spread the habit of the plant, which will offer more resistance to bad weather. At the same time, you thus channel the influx of sap onto a single flower, which will become larger and stronger.
Planting period
Intended location
Care
Planting & care advice
This item has not been reviewed yet - be the first to leave a review about it.
Recently viewed products
Haven't found what you were looking for?
Hardiness is the lowest winter temperature a plant can endure without suffering serious damage or even dying. However, hardiness is affected by location (a sheltered area, such as a patio), protection (winter cover) and soil type (hardiness is improved by well-drained soil).
The flowering period indicated on our website applies to countries and regions located in USDA zone 8 (France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, etc.)
It will vary according to where you live:- In zones 9 to 10 (Italy, Spain, Greece, etc.), flowering will occur about 2 to 4 weeks earlier.
- In zones 6 to 7 (Germany, Poland, Slovenia, and lower mountainous regions), flowering will be delayed by 2 to 3 weeks.
- In zone 5 (Central Europe, Scandinavia), blooming will be delayed by 3 to 5 weeks.
In temperate climates, pruning of spring-flowering shrubs (forsythia, spireas, etc.) should be done just after flowering.
Pruning of summer-flowering shrubs (Indian Lilac, Perovskia, etc.) can be done in winter or spring.
In cold regions as well as with frost-sensitive plants, avoid pruning too early when severe frosts may still occur.
The planting period indicated on our website applies to countries and regions located in USDA zone 8 (France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands).
It will vary according to where you live:
- In Mediterranean zones (Marseille, Madrid, Milan, etc.), autumn and winter are the best planting periods.
- In continental zones (Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, etc.), delay planting by 2 to 3 weeks in spring and bring it forward by 2 to 4 weeks in autumn.
- In mountainous regions (the Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathians, etc.), it is best to plant in late spring (May-June) or late summer (August-September).
The harvesting period indicated on our website applies to countries and regions in USDA zone 8 (France, England, Ireland, the Netherlands).
In colder areas (Scandinavia, Poland, Austria...) fruit and vegetable harvests are likely to be delayed by 3-4 weeks.
In warmer areas (Italy, Spain, Greece, etc.), harvesting will probably take place earlier, depending on weather conditions.
The sowing periods indicated on our website apply to countries and regions within USDA Zone 8 (France, UK, Ireland, Netherlands).
In colder areas (Scandinavia, Poland, Austria...), delay any outdoor sowing by 3-4 weeks, or sow under glass.
In warmer climes (Italy, Spain, Greece, etc.), bring outdoor sowing forward by a few weeks.