Dahlia Sweet Love

Dahlia Sweet Love is a variety of beautiful, well-double flowers, all rounded, whose architecture highlights a trendy pastel colour, ranging from pink to cream. Its flowers are organized in cells like ball dahlias, with tubular petals in the heart of the flower turning cream-coloured over time. The plant generously blooms from summer to the first cold weather, forming a beautiful bushy clump. Carried by long sturdy stems, the flowers of this dahlia maintain their impeccable appearance in bouquets as well as in flower beds.

Dahlias belong to the Asteraceae 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.
The 'Sweet Love' variety will reach a height of approximately 90 cm (35in) and a diameter of 60 cm (24in) after 3 to 4 months of cultivation. It is classified as a decorative dahlia, which is a horticultural category defined by the flower's shape. In this group, the coloured ligules of the capitulum are regularly arranged in a spiral and can be curved towards the stem or fringed, for example. The 'flowers' or capitula of 'Sweet Love', widely displayed, have a diameter of about 10 cm (4in). The ligules or 'petals' are oval-shaped and tubular. Their colour ranges from lilac pink to white cream, from the periphery to the centre. The golden heart of the flower only appears late, just before wilting. It blooms from July to October. The habit is bushy and dense. The highly branched stems are hollow and the leaves are opposite, pinnatisect, meaning they are divided into 3 or 5 highly toothed lobes. The leaves are shiny and dark green, just like the floral stems.

To encourage repeat blooming, make sure to remove faded flowers, or even better, regularly create large colourful bouquets by combining it with other varieties. 'Sweet Love' pairs particularly well with pink, mauve, violet, and white flowers. In flower beds, this dahlia will create vibrant spots alongside pink Echinaceas, which bloom at the same time, as well as Daylilies and Asters. Japanese anemones are good companions for the late season, as well as grasses (compact Miscanthus, Pennisetum, Stipa, Muhlenbergia capillaris, Eragrostis spectabilis). This modest-sized variety is also suitable for container gardening, to easily decorate the patio or balcony.

As a star plant in ornamental gardens, dahlias are undoubtedly beautiful flowers. They are perfect in flower beds but can also enhance vegetable gardens. In Mexico, this tuberous plant was initially cultivated as a root vegetable for consumption. Its poor taste quickly relegated it to the status of an ornamental plant. Since then, the interest in their beautiful exuberance has never waned.