Dahlia Neo

The 'Neo' Decorative Dahlia, with its flamboyant flowers, will bring a beautiful touch of colour to flower beds and homemade bouquets. Its flowers are very wide, double, and slightly flattened, entirely striped and streaked with red on an orange background that becomes more yellow as the hours go by. The plant, with its impressive stature, forms a beautiful bushy clump and blooms late in the season, with abundant light green foliage.

Dahlias belong to the large family of asters and are originally from the high plateaus of Mexico. Currently, the approximately 75,000 horticultural varieties created by humans have invaded gardens all over the world, much to our delight. Dahlias are classified according to the shape of their flowers. 'Neo', introduced in 2001, is classified in the category of Decorative Dahlias with large flowers. 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. In this variety, the heads are 18 to 22cm (7 to 9in) in diameter and the ligules are wide, flattened, and slightly turned downwards. The orange colour at the base fades over time, becoming more yellow. The ligules are entirely streaked with red. Flowering takes place from mid-July to October. The plant will reach a height of about 1.10m (4ft) and a width of 60cm (24in), with a bushy and erect habit. The highly branched stems are hollow and the opposite leaves divide into 3 or 5 leaflets, which are finely toothed. The foliage is a beautiful light green.

To promote repeat flowering and extend the flowering period, make sure to remove faded flowers. Even better, regularly create charming colourful bouquets by combining different varieties. The tall stature of this 'Neo' variety makes it suitable for the back of perennial beds, as well as among bushes. Its variegated flowering will go well with red, yellow, orange, brown, and purple. The flowering of sunflowers, cosmos, and echinaceas is perfect alongside dahlias, as well as asters, for example. Also consider grasses, which have a very nice effect in autumn.

Stars of ornamental gardens, Dahlias are undoubtedly beautiful flowers, perfect in flower beds, and can also enhance the vegetable garden. In Mexico, this tuberous plant was first cultivated as a root vegetable for consumption. Its poor taste qualities quickly assigned it the status of an ornamental plant. Since then, the interest in their beautiful exuberance has never waned.