Dahlia El Paso

The Dahlia 'El Paso' is a beautiful variety that offers inflorescences in the form of large light pink-lilac pompoms with a light yellow centre, marked with a purple-violet zone in young flowers. At full bloom, they are almost bicolored, in mauve pink and pale yellow, so that the overall effect is a bouquet with both tender and bold colours. They are produced abundantly, from summer to autumn, on a medium-sized plant. This very floriferous dahlia provides a long flowering period, perfect for adding an elegant and precious touch to flower beds or home bouquets.

Dahlias belong to the large family of asters, they are originally from the high plateaus of Mexico. Currently, the approximately 25,000 horticultural varieties obtained by humans have invaded, to our greatest pleasure, gardens all over the world. Dahlia varieties are classified according to the shape of their heads. 'El Paso' is a Dahlia from the decorative group with ball-shaped flowers. In this category, the heads have no visible centre and are composed of numerous regular and completely rolled petals (ligules), tubular, and never flare open. It includes varieties that form real spheres, such as pompoms (diameter less than 6 cm (2in)) and balls (diameter greater than 6 cm (2in)). The heads of this 'El Paso' variety are regular and generally measure more than 10 cm (4in) in diameter, sometimes much more (up to 15 cm (6in)). The outermost ligules are pale pink-lilac while at the tight heart of the flower is a darker purple before full blooming. The plant will reach approximately 80 to 90 cm (32 to 35in) in height and 50 cm (20in) in width, depending on the growing conditions. It has an upright habit, and its purple stems sometimes require staking. Its leaves are divided into very denticulate lobes. The flowering of this variety begins in July and ends in October-November, if care is taken to remove faded flowers or frequently make bouquets.

Today, essential in gardens, whether ornamental or even in the vegetable patch, Dahlias were initially cultivated in Mexico as a root vegetable. Their poor taste quickly assigned them the status of ornamental plants, but they are still welcome in the vegetable patch to bring some colour among the vegetables. 'El Paso' is a beautiful plant that can be used to structure raised flower beds, and can be paired with purple foliage, for example (Cotinus 'Royal Purple', Physocarpus 'Red Baron', Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace'). It pairs particularly well with plum, mauve, and violet flowers.