Plant Care Library

Group/Class:  Dreamy Series

Description:

An abundance of large fuchsia-lilac blooms with burgundy centers rise above dark green foliage with burgundy and copper overtones; a compact, self cleaning variety that is perfect for borders, garden landscapes and containers

Ornamental Features

Dreamy® Nights Dahlia features showy fuchsia daisy flowers with lilac purple overtones, gold eyes and burgundy centers at the ends of the stems from early summer to mid fall. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its pointy leaves emerge dark green in spring, turning burgundy in color with hints of coppery-bronze throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Dreamy® Nights 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 is a relatively low maintenance plant, and should not require much pruning, except when necessary, such as to remove dieback. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Dreamy® Nights Dahlia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

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

Planting & Growing

Dreamy® Nights Dahlia will grow to be about 14 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 16 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 12 inches apart. The flower stalks can be weak and so it may require staking in exposed sites or excessively rich soils. This annual will normally live for one full growing season, needing replacement the following year.

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. 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.

Dreamy® Nights Dahlia is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.