Dahlia Roxy

The Pretty Dahlia 'Roxy' is an adorable plant, small in size but remarkably colourful. This fairly old variety never fails to charm generations of gardeners with its simple flowers, displaying an extraordinary mid-red to magenta pink colour, centred around a golden to brown heart. They are enhanced by dark foliage and stems, with green-purple tones, sometimes tinged with crimson. The very compact plant creates a colourful bouquet for 4 to 5 months, adding a personal and cheerful touch to sunny borders and planters.

Dahlias belong to the asteraceae family and are originally from the high plateaus of Mexico. At present, the approximately 25,000 horticultural varieties obtained by humans have invaded, to our great pleasure, gardens all over the world.
The 'Roxy' variety, introduced in Germany in 1964, is a Dahlia classified in a separate category, that of Pretty Dahlias, characterized by flowers composed of a crown of wide, flat petals revealing the yellow heart. It is also part of the dwarf dahlias, as it will not exceed 40-45 cm (16-18in) in height and 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16in) in width. The flowers of 'Roxy', with 8 petals curved inwards at their tips, are less than 10 cm (4in) in diameter. Their colour, somewhat difficult to describe, is an extremely deep pink, inhabited by red to wine-red nuances. The tiny flowers at the heart form a very visible golden disc. Flowering occurs from July to October. The habit is bushy and upright. The highly branched stems are hollow and the leaves are opposite, pinnately divided into 3 or 5 very toothed lobes. The leaves and stems have a beautiful dark green-bronze-purple hue.

To promote flower re-occurrence, take care to remove faded flowers, or even better, regularly make large colourful bouquets by combining it with other varieties. 'Roxy' pairs particularly well with the grey foliage of artemisias (Artemisia Powis Castle, Artemisia absinthium Lambrook Silver, Silver Dust Cineraria), golden foliage or dark needles of certain small conifers (Thuja occidentalis 'Golden Globe', Chamaecyparis obtusa Chirimen, Chamaecyparis obtusa Juniperoides). In the front of borders, in informal borders or even in pots on the terrace, this Dahlia will create colourful and original spots in the company of white asters (Aster Ashvi), light blue or mauve flowers (Aster cordifolius, Aster turbinellus, Aster novi-belgii Marie Ballard) for example. Its flowers are of course magnificent in bouquets.
 

The star plant of borders and herb gardens, Dahlias confidently accompany the most beautiful flowers but are also appreciated alongside vegetable plants. In Mexico, this tuberous plant was first cultivated as a root vegetable for consumption. But its poor taste qualities relegated it to the status of an ornamental plant. Since then, interest in their beautiful exuberance has never waned.