Christine Covino

14 Gorgeous, Must-Grow Dahlia Varieties

Lynneah Bennett

If you’re looking for the most gorgeous dahlia varieties to plan in your garden, this list includes the best dahlias to plant in your garden.

Why Plant Dahlias in Your Garden

The rewards of planting dahlias are many and that’s probably why I adore them so much! This list includes my favorite gorgeous dahlia varieties.

Once established, dahlias are hugely prolific for several months. It’s always a yard-full of color around here and I have arrangements all over the house. They just keep producing flowers and take almost no effort. In fact, they are pretty easy flowers to maintain.

Here are my insider tips for growing dahlias:

  1. Choose the Right Dahlia
  2. Plant Dahlia Tubers 6″ Below the Soil Surface
  3. Do Not Water Newly Planted Dahlia Tubers
  4. Pinch Dahlias at About 12″ Tall
  5. Harvest Dahlias Regularly for More Blooms

For a deeper dive on these tips for growing gorgeous dahlia varieties, check out my tips in this post. Or download the full grow guide below!

 

Let’s get into the gorgeous dahlia varieties I have to share with you today!

Favorite Gorgeous Dahlia Varieties

I have two lists of swoon-worthy dahlia varieties to share with you today: neutral colored dahlias and vibrant dahlias. First up are the best neutral dahlias!

Here’s the list for my favorite neutral-color dahlia varieties:

Café Au Lait

This milky-pink blushing beauty displays huge 9“ feathery flower heads with flat-tipped petals. Dramatic is an understated description for the size of these blooms appropriately called “dinnerplate.” A favorite gorgeous dahlia variety for wedding arrangements and elegant centerpieces.

Linda’s Baby

A plump flower with an antique flair boasting tight petals in flamingo pink with inner tinges of pastel yellow. Linda’s Baby is an early and hearty bloomer with strong stems and makes a long-lasting cut flower.

Crichton Honey

A shorter stemmed flower but a showstopper nevertheless with its warm apricot outer petals and deeper peach center accents. Another great long-lasting cut flower with sturdy stems.

 

Peaches N’ Cream

What makes this one of the most cherished of all dahlias? No two blooms are alike with colors of cherry blossom married to blushing peach and petals that curve back revealing pale pink tips. A dependable bloomer and high in demand as a cut flower.

Sweet Nathalie

A special occasion favorite, this gorgeous dahlia is pastel pink cream blushed with a buttercream center and is a mid-summer bloomer. Dreamy. It pairs beautifully with Café Au Lait for elegant wedding arrangements.

Platinum Blonde

Single white petals hug dense clusters of delicate buttercup yellow cylindrical blooms resembling a pom- pom. Truly enchanting! A long bloomer from summer to fall.

Apple Blossom

These light and airy almost airbrushed petals turn from a buttercream yellow to a pastel pink with a sunflower yellow interior anemone. It’s a dazzler! Because these flowers have a shorter vase life, they are best as an event flower.

 

 

Rock Run Ashley

One of the most beautiful and versatile varieties we grow, ‘Rock Run Ashley’ produces a steady stream of small buff to blush blooms all season long. This extraordinary discovery has quickly taken a spot on our top 15 list. Its strong stems and delicate looking flowers make it a must have for any flower arranger or wedding florist. Plants are on the shorter side, but if pinched early they will produce long stems abundantly.

My favorite vibrant-color dahlias are:

Labyrinth

I love how these flowers display long pink fairy wings that boast streaks of pale rose and light apricot petals with deeper pink hue interiors. Pure bliss. Prolific blooms produce amazing cut flowers.

Salmon Runner

A circular coral pink flower with perfectly shaped petals that reveal tones of dark magenta toward the center. With its notably sturdy and extra long dark green stems, Salmon Runner throws a profusion of blooms throughout the cutting season and is perfect for bouquets.

Golden Scepter

This dahlia’s warm, buttery golden hued petals are small and perfect for tucking into a bouquet. A favorite because of its lengthy growing season, into late fall.

Cornell Bronze

Upon first glance, these dahlias look too perfect to be real! Their symmetrical tubular petals in shades of bronzed coral contrast brilliantly with their dark green foliage. A sturdy bloomer and reliable producer into the late fall make it a great cut flower and landscape or border flower.

 

Jowey Winnie

Your friends will ogle over these stunning sunrise pink dahlias with streaks of pale yellow throughout their petals that harbor a lavender center.  Another prolific bloomer and long-stemmed, the Jowey Winnie will grace your home and yard with beauty early in the summer.

Totally Tangerine

Another stunner dahlia, the Totally Tangerine, displays a fringe of rose-pink petals surrounded by an intricate array of tangerine-colored frilly florets. A mid-summer to late-fall abundant bloomer, the smaller blossoms complement an assortment of bouquet flowers.

Happy Butterfly

I saved the best for last! Just like their name, Happy Butterflies will make you smile! These dahlias exhibit upward facing petals, a blend of butter yellow and tinted pink, and a raspberry center. As the flower ages, the colors saturate into a deeper pink petal with paintbrush streaks of fuchsia. Exquisite! An early bloomer and bred for an extended shelf life, this dahlia will become one of your favorites. 

More tips to help you grow strong and gorgeous dahlia varieties:

1. Pinching Your Dahlias:

I know you want to keep all those leaves on your precious gorgeous dahlia stalk but trust me, pinching them back will yield more blooms—really! 

When your plant is 12-16“ tall, and has at least three to four sets of leaves, it’s time to pinch. Look for the center stem/bud (terminal bud) and pinch or snip it off right above the next set of leaves. By doing this, the plant will now send out multiple lateral shoots, instead of the one central shoot, and create tons more opportunity for more blooms. This process also makes your plants sturdier with stronger stems.

Staking Your Gorgeous Dahlias:

I advise staking your dahlias to keep them straight and strong. It’s best to place your stakes at the time of planting. You can use tall wooden stakes and ti individual plants up to it or do the corralling method with t-posts and twine like we do at the farm.

Harvesting and Vase Life for Dahlias:

If possible, cut your dahlias in the early morning and when the flowers are about half to two-thirds open. Cut the stems deep, at about 18“ long, and immediately plunge into a plastic bucket with a few inches of very hot water. (The water will cool too quickly in a glass vessel). Add a flower preservative and let the water cool to room temperature before arranging. This process will condition and rehydrate the dahlia blooms and give them a vase life of 4-7 days. Cut your stems to the desired length and arrange in a vase.

So, have I convinced you yet to plant one or more of these striking gorgeous dahlia varieties? If so, here is the link to my flower farm – Wild Iris Flower Farm – where our dahlia tuber sale is happening on March 23. 2024 at 12pm EST! If you missed out on my sale don’t worry, there are lots of small flower farms across the US and Canada that sell their gorgeous tubers! Message me over on Instagram @wildirisflowertruck and I’ll send you my favorites!

 

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