Dahlia Hollyhill Black Beauty

Dahlia 'Hollyhill Black Beauty' is an excellent semi-cactus variety that is perfect for bouquets. It charms with its large, ruffled, and velvety flowers, rich in shades of red, purple, magenta, and garnet, animated with black reflections. They are produced abundantly from summer until the first frost, on a bushy plant with very long stems. This variety works well with many flowers, in sunny flower beds and floral compositions.

Dahlias belong to the Asteraceae family and are originally from the high plateaus of Mexico. There are currently thousands of horticultural varieties that have conquered gardens worldwide. They are tender perennials with fleshy tubers.

'Hollyhill Black Beauty' forms a tuft measuring up to 1.2m (4ft) high and 60cm (24in) wide, depending on growing conditions. It is classified as a cactus dahlia, or more precisely a semi-cactus variety, a horticultural category defined by the shape of the flower. In this group, the coloured ligules of the head are incompletely rolled up for at least 1/3 of their length. This dahlia has rolled and spatulate ligules. Flowering begins in July and ends in October-November. The heads measure 15cm (6in) in diameter. The plant has a bushy and erect habit, and the branched stems are hollow. Its leaves are opposite and pinnately lobed, meaning that they are divided into 3 or 5 toothed lobes. The leaves are of a medium green and the stems are slightly tinged with purple.

Remove faded flowers to encourage new blooms. You can use cut flowers to make colourful bouquets, combining them with other varieties.

Dahlia 'Hollyhill Black Beauty' is a beautiful cut flower. Use it to create table decorations with amaranths, red to purple roses, and bunny tails grass spikes. In the garden, it integrates well with perennial plant beds and can lean on small bushes for support. It particularly complements pink, mauve, and white blooms, especially those of perennial salvias. In flower beds, it will go perfectly with tall "thistles" (cardoon and artichoke) and cosmos, for example. It makes a unique display with tall sedums and miscanthus.

Dahlias are stars of borders and ornamental gardens, confidently accompanying the most beautiful flowers. However, they are also appreciated alongside vegetable plants. In Mexico, this tuberous plant was first cultivated as a root vegetable for consumption. Its poor taste qualities quickly saw it categorised as an ornamental plant. Since then, the interest in their beautiful exuberance has never waned.