Dahlia Parc Floral de Paris

The Dahlia 'Parc Floral de Paris', a dahlia from the decorative group, stands out for its double vermilion red flowers, its early flowering, its dark foliage, its robustness and its good performance in borders as well as in cut flower arrangements. Selected by the horticultural team of the City of Paris at the Parc Floral, it was showcased in public spaces in 2024. This variety will beautifully enhance cut flower arrangements and borders, bringing a festive and very colourful touch.

A member of the Asteraceae family, the 'Parc Floral de Paris' cultivar is a creation of the City of Paris, selected by Christophe Kneblewski and named in 2016 in honour of the Parc Floral which hosts the international dahlia competition; compared to similar varieties, it is distinguished by well-filled heads of a deep vermilion red, an early summer flowering and strong stems suited to urban plantings as well as cut flowers.
The plant quickly forms a bushy, upright clump 90 cm to 1.30 m tall with a spread of 50 to 70 cm. The stems are quite thin, hollow, brown; staking may be necessary in exposed areas. The foliage is formed of pinnate leaves, with ovate to lanceolate, dentate leaflets, 6 to 12 cm long, of a dark green tinged with bronze to purple depending on sunlight. The inflorescences are double heads 10 to 14 cm in diameter, formed of thick ligules arranged in several regular ranks. Their colour is a vermilion red with orange highlights depending on the light. Flowering begins in mid-July and continues until October-November. The underground system is tuberous, sensitive to hard frosts; lifting the tubercles after the first cold snap and overwintering them dry between 5 and 8 °C allows the stumps to be preserved.

This dahlia was planted extensively by the City of Paris in 2024 (several tens of thousands of young plants) in over a hundred green spaces, which popularised its name with the general public. To showcase it in the garden, you can take inspiration from Parisian designs. In a tall border like at Parc Monceau, line up several plants 50–60 cm apart and pair it with white Gauras and Verbena bonariensis; add a few plants of Salvia uliginosa with blue flowers to tone down its red flowers. The silvery foliage of artichokes or cardoon will serve as a perfect setting, as will red-stemmed chard with metallic purple foliage. Regarding other dahlias, ‘Bishop of Llandaff’, ‘David Howard’ and ‘Cornel Brons’ allow you to play with colours and textures.

Essential in gardens, Dahlias were once cultivated in Mexico as a root vegetable. Their very poor taste qualities quickly relegated them to the rank of ornamental plant. They are still useful in the vegetable garden, in beds dedicated to cut flowers.