The best dahlias to try this year
Take a sneaky peak at these stunning new varieties to grow in 2020
As we dream of the dahlia season to come, here's a look at the new varieties on offer and a sneaky peak at those that are on their way.
‘Louis White’ is the much-awaited yellow sport from ‘Aggie White’, and caused excitement when it was first seen at Harrogate Autumn Show a couple of years ago. Grow four flowers to the plant from early to mid-June as this isn’t the earliest variety to flower. Raised by Christopher White and named after his father.
A new large, possibly giant, decorative is ‘Milly’, raised by Mr A. T. Hayes, from Kenilworth. It has white blooms, occasionally overlaid with a lavender flush. Allow four to six flowering stems per plant for large and reduce to two to three if you want to try and push it to the giant size. It was planted and grown at the NDS Exhibition Trials at Golden Acre Park in 2019, where it received the People’s Choice Award.
One now readily available to buy is ‘Clearview Cameron’, a stunning and much-admired variety from the USA. The very showy white flowers with lavender-pink tips helped earn this a top three placing in the People’s Choice award at the NDS Trials in 2018 as well as an NDS Silver Medal for Exhibition Merit. Growing to 1.4m (4.5ft) high, allow six to seven flowering stems per plant. ‘Grace Wood’ is a reliable magenta-pink medium semi-cactus raised by Derek Cave. A very weather-tolerant variety with the blooms being held on strong, upright stems on plants that grow to about 1.5m (5ft). Grow six to seven blooms per plant. ‘Westerton Sunset’ is from Gordon Hodgson and is a stunning rich-burgundy, small decorative which will be used by top growers in 2020. A real eye-catcher for its colour with the flowers holding up well in all but the wettest of weather. Grow eight flowering stems per plant.
Raised by Alan Burnett, ‘Hadrian's Delight’ looks like it will be a small semi-cactus. The strong-growing plants reach about 1.5m (5ft) and will take eight blooms per plant. The blooms themselves are very weatherproof and will provide a good show for cutting or the garden. Coming from the late Peter Greenway is ‘Josudi Pluto’, a free-flowering purple good for the garden or show bench. Deadhead regularly to help prolong the show. Grows to 1.3m (4¼ft).
‘Normandie Memories’ has soft pink flowers with white blends to the tips. Recently introduced from John Willott, the strong-growing plants reach about 1.2m (4ft) with good stem strength. This will make a good garden and cut flower variety as well as being useful for the show bench having good depth to the blooms and good form. An evenly coloured soft pink small ball is
‘Westerton Pearl’ from Gordon Hodgson. The consistent blooms dress right back to the well-proportioned strong stems and can be easily matched having good, well-formed centres with even development. Allow eight flowering stems per plant.
‘Hadrian's Glowing Embers’ is one of Halls of Heddon's own seedlings, with a dark central disc surrounded by orangey-peach petals with a red base which is more distinctive in the summer sun. The flowers are offset by rich dark purple foliage and are a magnet for all types of pollinators.
l All of these are available from Halls of Heddon, www.hallsofheddon.com.