Dahlia Verrone’s DF

The Dahlia 'Verrone’s DF', with its stellar flowers, stands out for its corollas full of fine, pointed, slightly curved petals that radiate like the branches of a star, leaving the centre clearly visible. They are remarkable in cut flower arrangements. This cultivar offers tones of soft pink to candy pink with a creamy white centre, a long flowering season and stems that are easy to work with for cutting.

Belonging to the Asteraceae family, 'Verrone’s DF' is a horticultural dahlia. The cultivars of dahlias are derived from species native to the high plateaus of Mexico and Central America and are classified into groups according to the shape of their flowers.
A recent selection attributed to the American hybridiser Roland Verrone, it is classified in the group of 'Stellar' form Dahlias; its flowers have narrow, pointed and slightly arched ligules, arranged regularly around a central disc visible at full bloom.
The plant forms an upright clump within a few weeks, composed of herbaceous, hollow and sturdy stems, bearing medium green leaves, divided into large ovate leaflets with a dentate margin. In open ground, the clump reaches between 90 cm and 1.20 m in height with a spread of 45–60 cm; in a large pot (40–50 cm in diameter), expect 60–90 cm in height.
The inflorescences, in heads 10 to 12 cm in diameter, are renewed from July to October; flowering begins 85 to 95 days after planting in warmed soil; the intensity of their pink colour with a white centre varies according to temperature and sunlight.
The stump consists of fleshy, tuberised roots containing reserves. The foliage is destroyed by frost and the tubercles cannot withstand temperatures below -5 °C under mulch. They are lifted in autumn and overwintered dry, at 3–7 °C. This cultivar is also sold under the names 'Verronnes DF', 'Verronne's DF' and more rarely 'Verrone DF'.

Plant the dahlia 'Verrone's DF' in a sunny border, in rich, well-draining soil, watered regularly but not excessively; pinch its stems early to encourage branching, stake it and regularly remove spent flowers to prolong flowering. In borders, combine it with dahlias of contrasting forms: the pompons 'Wizard of Oz' or 'Stolze von Berlin' add roundness, 'Creme de Cognac' reinforces the pink and cream palette, 'Verrone’s Obsidian' offers almost black stars. In the garden as in a vase, pair your dahlias with the plumes of medium ornamental grasses and cosmos.