Dahlia Tropical

Dahlia Tropical brings something new to the world of decorative Dahlias: its large flowers are arranged in a frilly pattern of randomly striped and speckled petals in shades of purple and violet on a light raspberry pink background. With their appearance of variegated roses, both sparkling and precious, they attract all eyes in the garden and allow for the creation of trendy bouquets with a carefully studied mess, inspired by still life paintings of Flemish masters. Of modest stature, well-branched, the plant will be appreciated in sunny borders, among low bushes, and in a large pot on the patio.

  
Dahlias belong to the Asteraceae family and are originally from the high plateaus of Mexico. Currently, the approximately 25,000 horticultural varieties obtained by humans have arrived in gardens around the world, much to our delight.
The 'Tropical' variety, recently introduced into horticultural trade, is classified as a decorative Dahlia, which is a horticultural category defined by the shape of the flower. In this group, the coloured ligules of the capitulum are arranged regularly in a spiral, they can be curved towards the stem or even curled. In this variety, the inflorescences in capitula are about 12 cm (5in) in diameter and their ligules or petals are slightly twisted in a spiral. Each flower has its own personality, combining different patterns of dark pink, purple, or violet on a lighter pink background. Flowering takes place from July to October. The habit is well-branched, with the plant reaching about 80 cm (32in) in height when in bloom and 50-60 cm (20-24in) in width. The very branched stems are hollow and the leaves are opposite, pinnately compound, meaning they are divided into 3 or 5 very toothed lobes. The leaves and stems are a medium greenish-blue in this variety.

To promote continuous flowering, make sure to remove faded flowers, or even better, regularly make large colourful bouquets by combining it with other varieties. 'Tropical' alone creates the decor for a dedicated bed, but its flowers will be enhanced by lighter and more discreet blooms, such as those of panicled baby's breath, chamomiles, or a white Linaria purpurea. In beds, this dahlia pairs well with phlox in shades of mauve, a 'The Fairy' rose, blue bellflowers, and white, blue, or mauve autumn asters, for example. This variety with its heavily blooming stems allows for the addition of flowers to bouquets well into the late season.

As a star of borders and cottage gardens, Dahlias confidently accompany the most beautiful flowers but are also appreciated alongside vegetable plants. In Mexico, this tuberous plant was first cultivated as a root vegetable for consumption. However, its poor taste qualities assigned it the status of an ornamental plant.