dahlias – the new peony?

by Sharon Santoni
 
With the garden remodelling we have started this year, I was determined to include many dahlias for autumn colour and of course for cutting.[blank]
 
Next week I’ll be showing you my favourite varieties, but for now here is my brightest star, cut and popped into an old fashioned pudding bowl as a vase![blank]
 
 
 
I bought the tuber for this dahlia quite by chance.  In a local supermarket, late in the planting season, they had thrown together all the unsold bulbs and I happily sorted a few.[blank]
 
This baby produced such stunning blooms that I was careful to lift the tuber at the end of the year, and label carefully before storing in our wine cellar, away from the frost.[blank]
 
When I pulled it out in spring it was big enough to divide into four separate plants, so this year I’ll have plenty of blooms.[blank]

 

[blank]I just love the gentle colour of the petals and
 their texture and generosity ….
 
so I ask you:  is the dahlia the peony of autumn?[blank]

55 comments

ParisGrrl August 23, 2013 - 10:34 am

Those are absolutely gorgeous…I love that you have a dahlia cave. 🙂

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Barbara August 23, 2013 - 12:35 pm

Sharon ~ I adore dahlias!!! However, I have never seen one quite as beautiful as this one……such soft, gentle colors and the petals are glorious!!! Enjoy to your hearts content!!
I shall terribly miss meeting you this fall and doing ll the amazing things you have planned!! Hopefully, next year I can join you!!
My very best wishes to you and your husband!!!

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helen tilston August 23, 2013 - 1:17 pm

Hello Sharon

The colour is absolutely breath taking.

It was well worth treasuring the tuber

Helen

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Il calesse August 23, 2013 - 1:27 pm

Meravigliose!
Ciao:)
Luci@

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Daniela August 23, 2013 - 1:42 pm

Dear Sharon,
just want to let you know that today you can see a little bit of my garden at https://www.vintagelover.cz/
Warmest greeting from Czech Republic,
Daniela

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Betsy Brock August 23, 2013 - 2:02 pm

I have never seen a dahlia that color! Now I want one!

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Nella Miller August 23, 2013 - 2:06 pm

I think they are the peonies of summer….I love dahlias and use them whenever I can for wedding bouquets….is yours Cafe au Lait….?….stunning! N.xo

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CityGirlCountryBloke August 23, 2013 - 3:17 pm

Those are stunning. How did you store it in the cellar?

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Castles Crowns and Cottages August 23, 2013 - 4:21 pm

The texture of this gorgeous bloom is that of silk, ribbon, or some other fine French textile! Lovely way to start my Friday, here chez vous Madame! Anita

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I Dream Of August 23, 2013 - 4:44 pm

Sharon, I am in awe of your gardening skills. These dahlias are heavenly. My little city postage stamp of a yard doesn't have much room for a cutting garden, so I'm quite happy to live vicariously through you and your beautiful blooms.
Hope your weekend is just as gorgeous! XO

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cestMoi Sandy August 23, 2013 - 4:47 pm

I love your Dahlia's such sweet colours! I totally adore peonies too though!
Gorgeous!
Enjoy your weekend!

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cestMoi Sandy August 23, 2013 - 4:47 pm

I love your Dahlia's such sweet colours! I totally adore peonies too though!
Gorgeous!
Enjoy your weekend!

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Ms Lemon of Make Mine Lemon August 23, 2013 - 5:09 pm

Yes, and I think you chose the prettiest one. She looks like she could be a ballerina in her tutu.

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Marsha Splenderosa August 23, 2013 - 5:29 pm

This is the MOST beautiful color ever. Did you ever hear from the jewelry winner on her address? I'm home Monday afternoon. xx's

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Petite Peltier August 23, 2013 - 5:42 pm

Yes! I just did a photo shoot and since dahlia's are in season I chose to use them. They were SO AMAZING! Always one of my favorites but I seem to forget about them sometimes. These are beautiful, how lucky to have them in your yard!

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Cindy August 23, 2013 - 5:56 pm

I found the photos of these flowers on Pinterest… and they take my breath away. Your blog looks so pretty! I can't wait to read more posts!

Cindy

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donna baker August 23, 2013 - 7:32 pm

That is the most beautiful dahlia I've ever seen. Some are plate sized.

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Michelle O August 23, 2013 - 9:27 pm

Your blog is gorgeous. Love these dahlias…

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Jennifer Clark August 23, 2013 - 9:56 pm

Gorgemous! My m-i-l is getting into dahlias, so I've been looking around for them. But I've never seen such a subtle beauty! Most dahlias are strongly coloured, at least the one on offer here in California. Which isn't a problem, but the delicate tint of your dahlias is something special. If you can tell us the name of the variety, please do!

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:18 am

a dahlia cave! … that's what I'll call it from now on, thank you!

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:19 am

Hi Barbara, this one really is a beauty isn't it …. maybe if you come next year, I'll have a tuber for you to take home with you!
best wishes

Sharon
x

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:19 am

thank you Helen, just hope the colour doesn't change with time

xx

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:20 am

grazie!

ciao

xx

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:20 am

Thank you Daniela, I took a look at your site and I love the pictures of your garden and home
xx

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:21 am

I think I should be marketing this one Betsy!

xx

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:21 am

I can't remember its name Nella, if I had known it was going to be this beautiful I would have kept a careful note

xx

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:23 am

To store the dahlia tubers, I lift them from the ground once they have finished the season and the grren stalks have died back. I label them and simply lay them on sheets of newspaper inside wooden crates.
The labelling is important if you want to know what you are planting the next spring 🙂
x

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:23 am

Thank you Anita, the petals do indeed look like a fine silk

xx

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:25 am

Hey Jeanne, this is nothing to do with skill. Just plant a tuber, give it a drink and wish it well and it goes for gold
have a lovely weekend

Sharon

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:25 am

me too Sandy, but I can't have peonies in August!

xx

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:25 am

exactly M, this is totally a tutu sort of colour and shape

xx

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:26 am

Glad you like it Marsha … we're chatting on Monday

xxx

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:27 am

and they come in so many colours, I just love them.

Dahlias grow very well in our climate here in Normandy, so I am lucky

xx

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:28 am

Thank you Cindy, I hope you enjoy looking around

xx

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:28 am

Hi Donna, the blooms are enormous, easily 7" wide

xx

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:29 am

Thank you Michelle, have a good weekend

xx

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sharon santoni at my french country home August 24, 2013 - 12:29 am

I am sorry Jennifer, I honestly don't remember. A reader has suggested it may be 'café au lait'

xx

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Anonymous August 24, 2013 - 12:56 am

Hi Sharon that is one beautiful Dahlia and the way you have photographed them we all want to go out and plant Dahlias just like this beauty. I have the Bambino Dahlias in our garden they have done well. We have a nursery over here that offers French Delbard roses and they also offer French Dahlia which I found absolutely beautiful, after your always beautiful blog I am going to be brave and try to grow the larger Dahlias ….wish me luck. Thank you for sharing and have a beautiful weekend. Regards Esther from Sydney…here comes Spring.

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Emm August 24, 2013 - 2:32 am

The colors of your dahlia are simply lovely; usually, they're bright and often a bit garish. With these, I'm an instant convert. Thanks for such beautiful pictures.

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materfamilias August 24, 2013 - 2:52 am

I do love dahlias, but I've never had the patience for lifting and storing — and our winters are simply too wet, even when they're not too cold, for dahlias to be happy in the ground all winter.
Yours are spectacularly gorgeous — what a sumptuous colour. But for me, they lack one thing that would justify a comparison with peonies — fragrance!

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Eileen August 24, 2013 - 3:58 am

Simply stunning. That has to be one of the most beautiful dahlias I have ever seen. Gorgeous photos. I could totally buy them as the peonies of autumn.

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Rowan August 24, 2013 - 6:56 am

Hi Sharon, When I'm buying flowers, I normally walk right past the buckets of dahlias, as they're often in strident colours, like rust and mustard, but this is like the colour of an old rose. Very pretty!
Cheers,
Deborah from Melbourne

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Emily @ Town And Country Shuffle August 24, 2013 - 2:02 pm

Your photos are stunning! I hope you don't mind if I Pin a few of them…

regards from New York
Emily @ Town And Country Shuffle

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marsha cannon August 24, 2013 - 3:06 pm

Sharon, I live in Mississippi and was gifted 10 dahlia tubers a few years ago. I wrote a post this past week about my dahlias which have finally this year been glorious! Yes! The peony of autumn – I love it!

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Kellie from Indiana August 24, 2013 - 3:52 pm

I love that shade! I so wish I had one. I have a deep purple that is stunning but oh I love your variety! Enjoy!

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Colleen Taylor August 24, 2013 - 5:45 pm

These are stunning Sharon. Remind me of peaked tufts of cotton candy only sweeter! XO

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La Contessa August 24, 2013 - 6:02 pm

ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!
Do we know the name ????

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Nantucket Daffodil August 25, 2013 - 12:28 am

What a gorgeous dahlia! Our growing season has been bizarre here in massachusetts, hoping for at least one before frost!

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Anonymous August 25, 2013 - 1:25 am

Absolutely adore peonies, with dahlias runni ng a close second:-) What a beautiful color! Love that pale pink that reminds us of our grandmothers! And yes, what is the name? Carol P.

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Nib's End August 25, 2013 - 4:58 am

Oh yes! They remind one of silk, and cotton candy, old roses and grandma's softly powdered cheek, just as your readers have so aptly described. My father grew dinner plate dahlias and won a blue ribbon for his at the county fair once. He was so proud of that ribbon. I think yours deserve a blue ribbon too.

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Barbara Lilian August 25, 2013 - 7:31 am

At last I'm able to post comments again, something has been going wrong since blogger changed. Your pale pink dahlias are gorgeous, certainly on par with the peony, You have certainly made me change my mind about them, I've always thought they were big & blousy, not my style, but this pale hue has won me over. have you managed to find the name of it ?

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Corrie August 26, 2013 - 2:36 am

I am normally a lover of darker coloured flowers but these are absolutely stunning! My grandmother used to grow both dahlias and 'peony roses' so these beautiful pictures have brought back some lovely memories for me this morning. Thank you. 🙂

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Botanic Bleu August 26, 2013 - 8:23 am

Simply stunning!

Judith

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Jeanne Henriques August 29, 2013 - 6:49 am

So beautiful Sharon…I do not think I have seen anything like it before…I think I would want to dedicate an entire bed to them. Thanks so much for stopping by recently, I think of you often and always enjoy every post that comes my way. Best wishes…xxx

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mamaroses September 7, 2013 - 6:07 pm

They are gorgeous!
Growing up I didn't much care for Dahlias. I had had way too much of them in our British colonial house in Calcutta. They almost appeared too 'cheap' to me…that is how me (I) as a little girl had pictured them. Large and way too bold.
In Sweden I get to see them every morning and am now beginning to like them a lot more (some 40+yrs later). The peonies are over and Dahlias shoot out tallest (and from the center) of carefully planned floral circles. The colors are also far softer, like the ones you've picked!

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