
Garden designers choose their favourite dahlia
Three garden designers and landscape architects – Arabella Lennox-Boyd, Ula Maria and Jo Thompson – choose their favourite dahlias for late-season colour.
Arabella Lennox-Boyd
Internationally renowned designer with more than 40 years experience chooses her favourite dahlias.
Dahlia ‘Bishop of Auckland’

A most elegant, single-flowered dahlia, very prolific and adored by bees and butterflies. I plant it through Anemanthele lessoniana, Agapanthus ‘Midnight Star’ and Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Heavenly Blue’ as if in a meadow. One of the best of the Bishop Series. Flowers: July – September. Height: 1m.
Dahlia ‘Arabian Night’

This dahlia's large, double, velvety dark, burgundy blooms are perfect for mixing in a border. In my own it’s surrounded by Succisa pratensis, Deschampsia and Phlox paniculata ‘Düsterlohe’. The almost black heads add a rich texture to the border. Flowers: June – September. Height: 1.2m.
Ula Maria
Garden designer, landscape architect and illustrator with a deep connection to nature chooses her favourite dahlias.
Dahlia ‘Honka Fragile’

This distinctive star-shaped dahlia with radiating petals that roll inwards at their tips is really striking both in a border and a cut-flower display. The white flowers are delicately edged in pink-red. Never fails to draw attention. Flowers: July – November. Height: 80cm.
Dahlia ‘Waltzing Mathilda’

A semi-double dahlia with ever so slightly twisting petals that lend it a more relaxed appeal. Flowers are a wash of orangey coral pink, set off against dark purple brown stems and foliage. I love it nestled among large clumps of airy ornamental grasses. AGM. Flowers: July – November. Height: 70cm.
Jo Thompson
Award-winning garden designer, and plantswoman with a love of romantic planting chooses her favourite dahlias below.
Dahlia ‘Lilac Time’

A magnificent yet neat dinner-plate dahlia in shades of pinkish-lilac-blue. It is quite restrained and exudes self-control – I like to grow it with unruly Gaura to create a yin and yang contrast that relaxes the whole feel. Flowers: June – October. Height: 1.1m.
Dahlia ‘Purple Gem’

A regal dahlia, cactus in form and looking at home in many colour combinations in the border. Hints of deep lilac-blue at the centre of the flowers, becoming lighter along the petals, make this a very useful cultivar both in the border and in a vase. Flowers: July – September. Height: 1m.
Dahlia merckii

So restrained, so elegant – single flowers of palest mother-of -pearl pink with muted yellow centres. The flowers sit high atop the tall stems and nod gently, a very lovely punctuation in the border. Unlike most dahlias, it is fairly hardy in the UK. Flowers: July – September. Height: 1.5m.
Where to buy dahlias
Halls of Heddon
West Heddon Nursery,
Heddon on the Wall,
Newcastle upon Tyne NE15 0JS. Tel 01661 852445,
hallsofheddon.com
J Parkers
16 Hadfield Street, Stretford,
Manchester M16 9FG. Tel 0161 848 1100,
jparkers.co.uk
Peter Nyssen
124 Flixton Road, Urmston,
Manchester M41 5BG. Tel 0161 747 4000,
peternyssen.com
Sarah Raven
1 Woodstock Court, Blenheim Road,
Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 4AN. Tel 0345 092 0283,
sarahraven.com
FIX YOUR PRICE FOR THE YEAR- HALF PRICE SALE!
Special offer to celebrate RHS Chelsea Flower Show! Get a whole year of Gardens Illustrated magazine for just £30 and FIX YOUR PRICE!- saving over 50%. Subscribe today and enjoy beautiful places, top planting ideas and expert advice for your garden. *Offer ends 1st July 2022. This offer is only available to UK residents paying by Direct Debit
Container Gardening Special Edition
The Gardens Illustrated Guide to Container Gardening. In this special edition, discover colourful flower combinations and seasonal planting schemes for pots designed by leading plantspeople, and essential know-how for container gardening success. Just £9.99 inc UK p&p
By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.