Dahlias are flower garden classics. Dazzling new types of dahlias are developed every year. Here are 10 of the most beautiful blooms.
Top 10 Types of Dahlias to Grow
Updated on Nov. 14, 2024
Hollyhill Peachy Keen Dahlia
As a cactus-type dahlia, Peachy Keen boasts full double flowers with narrow petals that are a blend of dark pink and yellow. It grows 6 1/2 feet tall and produces loads of blooms until frost. As a consistent grower, each tuber produces plants with nearly identical height and habit, making your garden look even more uniform.
Why we love it: Enjoy the soft tropical colors in its spiky petals and its easy-growing nature.
Redwood Honeybee Dahlia
The 5-inch blooms of Redwood Honeybee are a blend of yellow and pinkish orange. It starts blooming around eight to 10 weeks after planting and continues to flower until a killing frost if deadheaded. This cultivar stands tall in the garden, with stalks growing up to 6 feet tall.
Why we love it: The plant is always decorated by half a dozen blooms at a time, which make excellent cut flowers.
KA’s Papa John Dahlia
Named after the plant’s creator, KA’s Papa John is an award winner and has some of the highest scores in trial gardens across the U.S. and Canada. It’s an impressive specimen with great form, a large size and a bounty of huge, pure white blooms. The flower heads are big, measuring a colossal 8 to 10 inches in diameter.
Why we love it: The wavy petals and bright white color make the blooms almost look like a bowl of soft serve vanilla ice cream.
Oldoc Combustion Dahlia
This orchid-type dahlia stands 5 to 7 feet tall, and the 2- to 3-inch star-shaped blooms are a favorite of monarch butterflies. Its name comes from the fiery effect of the flowers and the fact that the hybridizer (the person who bred the plant) is a practicing veterinarian with a few years under his belt.
Why we love it: The curl and colors of the flower, yellow in the front and red in the back, lend it a flamelike appearance.
Plant allium bulbs in fall for gorgeous spring flowers.
Kelsey Tinker Dahlia
This dahlia grows 2 to 3 feet tall and about 18 inches wide. The 2-inch-wide blooms are monochrome, but they certainly don’t lack interest. The soft yellow flowers feature a ring of smaller secondary petals, called petaloids, surrounding the golden centers, which are a favorite haunt of bumblebees, honeybees and skipper butterflies.
Why we love it: You’ll see blooms just six weeks after planting, and it’s loaded with flowers until a hard frost.
Want more garden ideas? See 4 types of flower bulbs every gardener should grow.
20th Ave Old Major Dahlia
A spectacular specimen, 20th Ave Old Major grows 4 1/2 feet tall or taller. It’s a vigorous bloomer with many ball-shaped purple flowers that make excellent arrangements and bouquets. Gardeners can harvest a steady stream of blooms starting in midsummer through the middle of fall.
Why we love it: The size and presence stand out in a plot. It also pairs well with boneset, verbena or other tall companion plants with dainty blooms.
Discover 10 of the best daffodil bulbs to plant.
Lakeview Razzal Dahlia
This dahlia wows with a laciniate form, which means that the petals sport delicate split tips. The blooms average about 6 inches in diameter and truly shine all the way from midsummer to frost. At 4 feet tall, it’s a stout cultivar for a dahlia. But that stature is a plus in smaller gardens, and the plant may not require staking either.
Why we love it: Orange edges set Lakeview Razzal apart from other yellow types of dahlias, making it a real showstopper.
Check out the top 10 orange flowers to add a juicy burst of color.
Felida Mardi Gras Dahlia
Captivating star-shaped flowers, featuring golden centers surrounded by curling purple petals, stun in any garden. As much as people enjoy the 3 1/2-inch blooms, bees love them even more. It’s not unusual to see several visiting a flower’s center at the same time. Felida Mardi Gras grows about 4 feet tall and blossoms from midsummer to the end of the growing season.
Why we love it: Look closely at a bloom and see the intriguing flower-within-a-flower effect.
Don’t miss the ultimate guide to planting spring bulbs.
Glencoe Dandy Dahlia
Aptly named, these types of dahlias are indeed a dandy addition to the garden. The three-tone magenta, white and yellow double flowers sit on a 2 1/2-foot-tall plant. The miniature size and bold colors give it a different flair. Glencoe Dandy is a prolific bloomer starting in midsummer.
Why we love it: The small size works well in containers or garden borders.
Windhaven Mac Dahlia
Growing 3 to 5 feet tall, Windhaven Mac exhibits wide 6-inch blooms that look like yellow, pink and orange fuzz balls straight out of The Muppets. It is a heavy-flowering dahlia with strong stems, and it stands up nicely in hot temps and is heat tolerant.
Why we love it: Even surrounded by other dahlias, it won’t look like anything else in the garden.
Next, check out the top 10 bold burgundy perennial flowers.
