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It would be nice if we can decorate our house with beautiful flowers. One of the flowers that can enhance our home’s appearance is the dahlia flower. The dahlia flower is a perennial plant, blooming from summer to autumn.
This plant, which originates from the mountains of Mexico, is very popular with flower lovers. Dahlias are easy to plant anywhere because these flowers are adaptive to any environment.
42 Varieties of Dahlia Flowers
The dahlia flower means dignity, commitment, and immortality. Therefore, the dahlia flower is often used as a symbol in marriage. Generally, these flowers have more than 1,200 types.
However, in this article, I will summarize 42 types of dahlias. Before that, did you know that there are only four types of dahlias, most likely because of their beauty?
1. Hanakerusai Dahlia
The flower is red with a yellow tinge in the center of the flower. The flower crown is pointed and clustered.
2. Yellow Dahlia
The flower has yellow characteristics with white accents at the ends. The shape of the flower crown is small and collected.
3. Hibotan Dahlia
The pinkish flower is beautiful. This type of dahlia has a small bud in the center of the flower.
4. Yumitemari Dahlia
The white color with yellow accents in the middle makes this flower look beautiful and seem holy.
Other types of dahlias are also popular with people. A kind of dahlia has many different popular types of the same breed.
- Pompon Dahlia (Moor Place Dahlia, Plum Surprise Dahlia, Franz Kafka Dahlia)
- Mignon Dahlia (Scura Dahlia, Sunshine Dahlia, G.F. Hemerik Dahlia)
- Ball Dahlia (Cornell Dahlia, Jomanda Dahlia, Aurora’s Kiss Dahlia)
- Anemone Dahlia (Purpinka Dahlia, Boogie Woogie Dahlia, Totally Tangerine Dahlia)
- Waterlily Dahlia (Caballero Dahlia, Karma Choc Dahlia, Pearl of Heemstede Dahlia)
- Orchid Dahlia (Honka Fragile Dahlia, Honka Red Dahlia, Honka Surprise Dahlia)
- Peony Dahlia (Fascination Dahlia, Uskup Llandaf Dahlia, Bishop of Llandaf Dahlia)
There are many variations of this type of flowers, such as Black dahlia, Dahlia pinnata, Dahlia Imperialis, Dahlia Variabilis, Dahlia Coccinea, Dahlia juarezii, Dahlia apiculata, Dahlia australis, and Dahlia dumicola.
Growing Tip/ Growing Dahlias in Pots
Here is how to grow dahlia flowers in pots. First of all, soak the dahlia bulbs in clean water combined with fungicides and plant growth agents. Soaking doesn’t have to be a long time.
After that, prepare the pot and the planting medium. Make sure to use a large pot that is at least about 30 cm in diameter. The planting medium used can be a mixture of soil, husk charcoal, and compost.
When everything is ready, do the planting immediately. Plant the tuber seeds properly, but don’t let the shoots get buried. Make sure the shoots are up close to the surface of the soil. Position the dahlia bulb on its side or lie down because, in that position, the dahlia bulb grows.
In the first three days of the dahlia flower cultivation method, you can place the plant in the shade, then put it in a more open place. Do water only as needed on dahlias or by looking at the plant’s condition and the growing media.
How to Care for Dahlia
If the plant’s development is maximal, fertilizer application is only used as a backup. In other words, the primary method for flower development can be done naturally, namely by pruning and also selecting the main twig or branch as a place where flowers can develop. Besides, you also have to protect it from pests such as snails or caterpillars.
Do dahlias need lots of water? It depends. Another thing that must be known to grow dahlias is that the plant doesn’t need water, so you don’t have to overwater it. Excess watering can affect tuber rot.
However, when the weather is hot, the plants will need more water. To get a dense, robust plant and lots of flowers, it is a good idea to remove the new flower buds that appear when the new plant is on height. So, when the plants get taller, the more flowers they get.
Caring for Dahlia in Different Seasons
You can extend Dahlia blooms even until after summer is over, sometimes even until the end of October. First, you can add flower plant fertilizer once a week until the end of the blooming season. After that, remove wilted flowers regularly to avoid draining your dahlia and spur new flowers’ appearance.
If you live in an area where the weather frequently drops below 23°F (-5°C), bring your bulbs indoors before it freezes. That is your only hope. You have to wait for leaves to wither entirely and then cut them 4 inches (10 cm) above ground level. The second, pull out the rhizomes and let them dry off, and clean them with a brush. After that, please keep them in a cool, dry, and dark place. Replant them outdoor when the last frosts are past, in spring.
Do Dahlias Multiply?
Yes! The flower propagation of dahlias is naturally vegetative. It means that the plants reproduce without human intervention. This natural vegetation can be with spores, shoots, tubers, and rhizomes.
Dahlia flower reproduces by root tubers. Root tubers function to store food reserves. With roots, flower plants can grow tall and beautiful. Dahlias are also easy to grow and reproduce each year rapidly.
But did you know? Dahlia is a flower that reproduces late. In 1872, a Dutch herbalist received a box of Dahlia tubers shipped from Mexico.
From a Dahlia flower bulb box, it turns out that only one bulb succeded in flowering but produced beautiful flowers with red color, coupled with pointed petals.
This plant expert succeeded in breeding Dahlia, which was later named Dahlia juarezii. Dahlia juarezii is one of the ancestors of all the hybrid (cross) Dahlia flowers today.
