Dahlia Café au Lait Twist

Dahlia 'Café au Lait Twist' possesses all the charm of the famous giant D. 'Café au Lait', but its petals are randomly striped with pink on a cream background lightly tinted with coffee. They are fully double and enormous, sometimes reaching 25cm (10in) in diameter, all with slightly turbinate petals. This magnificent dahlia blooms quite late, from summer to autumn, on stems that can exceed 1m (3ft) in height. Combine it in your borders with light flowers, grasses, or foliage plants. Its spectacular flowers also make sumptuous bouquets.

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.

'Café au Lait Twist' is classed as a giant dahlia because it is 1 to 1.1m (3 to 4ft) tall, 60cm (24in) wide, and produces enormous flowers. It is also classified as a decorative dahlia, which is a horticultural category defined by the shape of the flower. In this group, the coloured ligules of the head are regularly arranged in a spiral. They can be curved towards the stem or fringed, for example. Flowering of this variety starts in July and ends in October. The flower heads measure 22 to 25cm (9 to 10in) in diameter. The outermost ligules are quite large and slightly turbinate, while those in the centre are more rolled up. The pink variegation varies depending on the flowers, with the base colour being a very light coffee-cream. The habit is bushy and erect, and the branched stems are hollow. Its leaves are opposite, pinnately divided into 3 or 5 dentate lobes. The leaves and stems are a vibrant green.

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

Dahlia 'Café au Lait Twist' pairs particularly well with pink and white blooms, especially those of roses. It also goes well with the classic D. 'Café au Lait' and D. 'Café au Lait Rosé'. In borders, it will blend perfectly with echinaceas, white lilies, white love-in-a-mist, and pink or white cosmos, for example. It will also create a unique and elegant mix with sedums and grasses like miscanthus or panicum.

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.