Heirloom Dahlia Bulbs

Martha Stewart Living has featured this burnished beauty in the garden and stylish, hand-made vases of our good customer Frances Palmer. Brush-stroked with ruddy orange on amber, its flowers have a lively, almost flickering effect in the garden and improve any fall bouquet. 4-5”, 5-6’, from New Hampshire. Chart, care, and learn more.

The blooms of this peachy-pink, semi-cactus dahlia are just the right size for bouquets, and its intriguingly dark stems add to its appeal both as a cut-flower and in the garden. It’s also a personal favorite of our new owner Vanessa, who urges you to give it a try! Semi-cactus, 3-5”, 4’, from Holland. Chart and care.

Although soft baby pink when it first opens, this 1950s classic quickly matures into a vivid, vibrant, and vivacious rose-pink highlighted with silver. It somehow manages to combine the sweetness of an 8-year-old girl with the elegance of a night on the town, and it absolutely pops in the garden and bouquets. Cactus, 5-6”, 4-5’, from Holland. Chart and care.

Anything but somber, this rosy purple dahlia blooms today in the famous Purple Border at Sissinghurst, England’s best-loved garden. Its 4-5 inch blooms have a loose, informal look – much like a waterlily dahlia – and its strong, dark stems make it great for bouquets. Formal decorative, 4-5”, 3½-4½’, from Holland. Chart and care.

One of the smallest-flowered pompons we’ve ever seen, and dramatically dark, this was Scott’s favorite of all the dahlias we trialed last year. Its deep boysenberry-colored globes are produced in profusion, and their strong stems make it great for bouquets. Pompon, 1½”, 3-3½”, from Holland. Chart and care.

The peony-like flowers of this blissful dahlia open pale, primrose yellow and then mature to apple-blossom pink, giving you a bouquet of colors on every plant. They’re just the right size to pick for bouquets, too, and they bloom so abundantly you’ll never miss the ones you cut. Waterlily, 4-5”, just 3-4’ tall, from New Hampshire. Chart and care.

Charmingly antique, ‘Pride of Berlin’ has plump, lavender-pink flowers that nod ever so slightly, like a demure Victorian fraulein. When it was introduced in 1884, Germany was a hotbed for exciting new dahlias, and since 1897 it’s been lovingly preserved by the venerable Deutsche Dahlien, Fuchsien, und Gladiolen Gesellschaft. Ball, 2-2½”, 3-4’, grown for us exclusively in Holland. Chart and care.

This velvety classic is still the truest deep purple of all dahlias, a color that photos can’t quite capture but that modern breeders envy. It was “named for the famous Electrical Wizard with his approval,” according to the L.L. Old’s catalog of 1939. Grow it and we think you’ll agree – it’s electrifying! Formal decorative, 6-8”, 3-4’, heat-tolerant, from Holland. Chart, care, and learn more.

The deeply fringed petals of this big, spectacular dahlia give it an otherworldly air, which is fitting since its name means “Messenger from the Moon” (the title of an enormously popular Japanese novel). When we look at it, though, we see Fourth of July sparklers and big shaggy dogs. What will you – or your kids or grandkids – see? Free-blooming, laciniated, 5-8”, 3-4’, from Holland. Chart and care.

This is the world’s oldest surviving garden dahlia. (Do you need to know more?) With fresh green foliage and hundreds of small, ivory globes – each touched in the center with a bit of honey, or sunshine? – it has all the pristine, elemental beauty of a newborn baby. Preserved by a German nursery that has specialized in dahlias for close to a century, it’s a timeless classic. 1-2”, 3-5’, from New Hampshire. Chart, care, and learn more.