Dahlia Renato Tosio

Dahlia 'Renato Tosio' Decorative , with its double flowers of a light and pure orange, brings a touch of whimsy and a very trendy note to flowerbeds and homemade bouquets. Its flowers are medium-sized, but very double, and have an orange colour with golden highlights, slightly paler on the periphery, stunning when paired with white or vibrant blue. The plant, which is elegant, forms a beautiful bushy and dense clump, with long-lasting flowering and abundant medium-green foliage.

Dahlias belong to the large aster family and are originally from the high plateaus of Mexico. Currently, the approximately 25,000 horticultural varieties created by humans have arrived in gardens around the world, much to our delight. Dahlias are classified based on the shape of their flowers. 'Renato Tosio', introduced in 1997, is classified as a Decorative Dahlia. In this group, the coloured ligules of the head are arranged regularly in a spiral, they can be curved towards the stem or fringed, for example. In this variety, the heads are 16-17 cm (6-7in) in diameter and the ligules are wide, flat, and slightly folded towards the centre, with a magnificent light orange color with golden reflections, those in the centre are slightly darker, sometimes tinged with red. The flowering period is from July to October. The plant will reach a height of 1.20 m (4ft), and a width of 50 to 70 cm (20 to 28in), with a bushy and erect habit. The highly branched stems are hollow and the leaves are opposite and pinnately compound, meaning they are divided into 3 or 5 leaflets, which have very denticulate lobes. The leaves are medium green, and the stems are rather purplish.

To promote re-flowering and extend the flowering period, be sure to remove faded flowers. Even better, regularly create enticing colourful bouquets by combining various varieties. The tall stature of this variety makes it suitable for the back of perennial flowerbeds, where it pairs well with red, yellow, brown, and purple. The flowering of sunflowers, cosmos, and echinaceas is perfect alongside dahlias, as well as asters, for example. Also consider grasses (foxtail barley, pennisetum, stipa), which have a very beautiful effect in autumn.

As the star plant of ornamental gardens, dahlias are undoubtedly beautiful flowers. They are perfect in flowerbeds but can also enhance vegetable gardens. In Mexico, this tuberous plant was initially 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.