Dahlia Sunset Tropical

The decorative Dahlia 'Sunset Tropical', with its flowers in warm and coppery shades, will bring an original and refined touch to borders and homemade bouquets. Its flowers are medium-sized, double and slightly flattened, painted with a mix of pink, coppery orange and peach, illuminated by a lemon yellow center. The plant, which often doesn't require staking, forms a bushy clump of medium size and blooms late in the season, with abundant bright green foliage.

Dahlias belong to the large family of asteraceae, originally from the high plateaus of Mexico. Currently, the approximately 25,000 horticultural varieties obtained by humans have invaded, to our great pleasure, gardens worldwide. Dahlias are classified according to the shape of their flowers. 'Sunset Tropical', introduced in 2002, is classified in the category of decorative Dahlias. In this group, the colored ligules of the head are arranged regularly in a spiral, they can be bent towards the stem or curled, for example. In this variety, the heads are 12 to 15 cm (5 to 6in) in diameter and the ligules are wide, flattened and slightly folded towards the center. The yellow color at the base gradually changes to coppery orange with peach and cherry pink highlights over time. The ligules in the center retain a lemon yellow hue. Flowering takes place from July to October. The plant, with sturdy stems, will reach an average height of 90 cm (35in) to 1 m (3ft), and a width of 50 to 60 cm (20 to 24in). It has a bushy and upright habit, and is excellent for borders. The very branched stems are hollow and the opposite leaves are divided into 3 or 5 leaflets, which are finely toothed. The stems are sometimes tinged with purple.

To promote repeat flowering and extend the flowering period, be sure to remove faded flowers. Better yet, regularly create attractive colorful bouquets by combining various varieties. The stature of this 'Sunset Tropical' variety makes it suitable for the back of perennial borders, where it will blend well with red, yellow, brown and purple. The flowering of Sunflowers, Cosmos and Echinaceas is perfect as an accompaniment to Dahlias, as they occur simultaneously, as well as Asters, for example. Also consider the beautiful effect of grasses in autumn.

Stars of curated gardens, Dahlias are undoubtedly beautiful flowers, perfect in a flower bed, but they can also enhance a vegetable garden. In Mexico, this tuber was initially cultivated as a root vegetable for consumption. Its poor taste quickly assigned it the status of an ornamental plant. Since then, the interest in their beautiful exuberance has never waned.