Dahlia Tanita

The 'Tanita' Decorative Dahlia with Small Flowers develops a double flower with lilac-pink petals almost entirely curled back on themselves, revealing their dark pink-red reverse, creating a bicolour impression in shades of pink-red-violet. This variety produces medium-sized stems that are perfect for borders, beds, and bouquet arrangements. Abundant and prolonged flowering from July until the first frosts.

The Dahlias are tuberous plants from the large Asteraceae family, originally from the high plateaus of Mexico. Nowadays, the thousands of horticultural varieties created by humans have spread, much to our delight, in gardens worldwide. Dahlias are classified based on the shape of their flowers. 'Tanita' belongs to the Decorative Dahlias category, specifically in the subcategory of small-flowered decorative dahlias. In this group, the colourful 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 measure 14 cm in diameter and their ligules are concave, curled back on themselves. Flowering occurs from July to October-November. The plant will reach an average height of 1 m, and a width of 50 cm, with a bushy and erect habit. The very branched stems are hollow and the leaves are opposite, pinnatisect, meaning they divide into 3 or 5 leaflets, which form very denticulate lobes. The leaves and stems are a fairly light green.

To encourage repeat flowering and extend the flowering period, be sure to deadhead the spent flowers. Better yet, create appealing colourful bouquets by combining various varieties. Decorative Dahlias pair well with gauras and cleomes to lighten their generous silhouette. 'Tanita' flowers also make wonderful bouquets with roses and grasses. This variety's medium size makes it suitable for the centre of mixed borders, to structure a grouping of bushy foliage plants and lower-growing ones. The flowering of Echinaceas is a perfect complement to Dahlias, blooming simultaneously, as well as perennial salvias, for example.

A star plant in cottage gardens, Dahlias are undoubtedly beautiful flowers, perfect for flower beds, but also great for vegetable gardens. In Mexico, this tuber was initially cultivated as a root vegetable for consumption. Its poor taste quickly relegated it to an ornamental plant. Since then, the interest in their beautiful exuberance has never waned.