Dahlia Dear Alexander

Dahlia 'Dear Alexander' is a variety of ball-shaped Dahlia with rather large flowers, overall tricoloured: soft salmon-orange petals on the periphery, then yellow with a purple edge, becoming more purple to plum as you approach the centre of the flower. The slightly flattened pompom-shaped flowers have a dynamic and elegant style. The plant, of beautiful stature, offers beautiful fresh green foliage and excellent performance in borders. It blooms abundantly, from summer to frost, on long and sturdy purple stems. The "chic country" style of this dahlia pairs particularly well with golden grasses.

Dahlias belong to the Asteraceae family, originally from the high plateaus of Mexico and bear inflorescences in heads, which we commonly call 'flowers'. Currently, the thousands of horticultural varieties obtained by humans have invaded, to our greatest pleasure, gardens worldwide.

The 'Dear Alexander' variety measures an average of 1.10m (4ft) in height and 60cm (24in) in diameter after 3 to 4 months of cultivation. It is classified among the Dahlias of the decorative group with Ball-type flowers. In this category, the heads are without a visible centre, and they are composed of numerous regularly arranged and more or less rolled-up petals (ligules), never flaring. It includes varieties that form true balls, such as pompoms (diameter less than 6cm (2in)) and balls (diameter greater than 6cm (2in)). The heads of this 'Dear Alexander' variety measure between 10 and 12cm (4 and 5in) in diameter. The plant has an upright and bushy habit, it does not flop. The flowering of this variety begins in July and ends in October-November, if care is taken to remove faded flowers or make bouquets regularly. The stems, very branching, long and sturdy, are hollow and the leaves are opposite, pinnatisect, meaning that they divide into 3 or 5 deeply toothed lobes. The leaves here are a vivid green and the stems are tinged with reddish-brown.

To promote repeat flowering, take care to remove faded flowers, or even better, regularly make large colourful bouquets by combining it with other varieties. In borders as well as in vases, 'Dear Alexander' is superb with grasses such as foxtail barley, Purple Fountain Grass or 'Red Chief' Miscanthus.

A star plant for borders and cottage gardens, Dahlias confidently accompany the most beautiful flowers but are also appreciated alongside vegetable plants. In Mexico, this tuber was first cultivated as a root vegetable for consumption. But its poor taste qualities assigned it the rank of an ornamental plant. The Dahlia, with its infinitely varied shapes and colours, is now considered one of the most beautiful flowers in the garden.