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Inside The New York Botanical Garden

dahlia

Morning Eye Candy: Smitten

Posted in Photography on August 1 2014, by Matt Newman

‘Mystic Illusion’ makes its grand appearance in the Perennial Garden. It’s part of a series of simple and stunning dahlia cultivars that include ‘Mystic Dreamer’, ‘Mystic Spirit’, ‘Mystic Memories’, etc. I’m still smitten with this one in particular, though—likely always will be.

Dahlia 'Mystic Illusion'

Dahlia ‘Mystic Illusion’ in the Perennial Garden – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Dazzling Dahlias

Posted in Gardening Tips on October 8 2013, by Sonia Uyterhoeven

Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education.

Dahlia 'Bashful'
Dahlia ‘Bashful’

The other day I was working opposite the Garden Cafe on our Seasonal Walk, the border that was designed by Dutch Designer Piet Oudolf. This border is characterized by an intermingling of permanent and ephemeral plants that drift through it, and my late season task was to deadhead the dahlias.

We have some stalwarts of the garden in this border, one of my favorites being the popular flower known as Dahlia ‘David Howard’. This dahlia was immortalized years ago in Christopher Lloyd’s borders at Great Dixter in Sussex, England, sporting dark black-purple foliage and bright apricot-orange flowers. The contrast between the foliage and flowers is stunning, while the flowers alone are quite showy with their large, 4-inch-wide, blousy double blooms. In our garden, the height of ‘David Howard’ ranges from 3 – 3.5 feet tall.

Giving ‘David Howard’ a run for his money is the stunning, blushing Dahlia ‘Bashful’. She is a prolific bloomer and grows from 30-36 inches. Her flowers remind me of a raspberry parfait. She has purplish petals that fade to mauve-lilac on the tips, each surrounding a buttery golden center. Delicious! On the morning that I went out to deadhead the dahlias, several bees were asleep on her flowers.

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