Dahlia Red Rock

Dahlia 'Red Rock' is a decorative variety that bears dark purple spherical flowers with white tips. These vibrant colours will bring life to the garden throughout summer and well into autumn. This variety will fit perfectly into summer perennial borders. To fully enjoy its flowering, simply choose a sunny location and soil that is not too clayey.

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.

Dahlias are classified according to the shape of their flowers. 'Red Rock' is a spherical-flowered variety classified as a decorative dahlia. In this category, the heads are full and double. The flat or slightly curved ligules overlap in numerous regular rows. In this variety, they are slightly revolute (curved downwards) to form an almost perfect sphere. They are dark purple with cream tips. The shorter central florets form a striated two-tone bud. The dense foliage clump will reach 100cm (39in) in height and 70cm (28in) in width. The highly branched and hollow stems are quite fragile, so it helps to thicken their width to strengthen them. The leaves are opposite and pinnatisect, meaning they are divided into 3 or 5 toothed leaflets. The stems and leaves are of a medium green colour.

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

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.