Plant Care Library

Group/Class:  Dinner Plate Dahlia

Description:

A striking variety that produces huge, dark purple-red double blooms with white tips, from summer until mid-fall; dinner plate sized blooms really stand out; wonderful for gardens, along borders, or in containers

Ornamental Features

Mystery Day Dahlia features bold deep purple daisy flowers with burgundy overtones and chartreuse eyes at the ends of the stems from mid summer to mid fall. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its serrated oval leaves remain green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Mystery Day Dahlia is an herbaceous annual with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep. Trim off the flower heads after they fade and die to encourage more blooms late into the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Mystery Day Dahlia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Mystery Day Dahlia will grow to be about 30 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 18 inches apart. The flower stalks can be weak and so it may require staking in exposed sites or excessively rich soils. Although it's not a true annual, this plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Mystery Day Dahlia is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.