This new addition to the "Bishop" dahlia series boasts the same wonderful dark-purple foliage, topped with 3' tall spikes of 2" dark, fluorescent wine-purple flowers. We tried to find an RHS color code, but this is obviously a new color for the RHS unless they are boycotting fluorescent purple. This plant is also unique since there is no such thing as a Bishop of Canterbury. There is an Archbishop of Canterbury, but that's several pay grades higher. For us, Dahlia 'Bishop of Canterbury' flowers from June until frost...perfect for a touch of purple in the border...a hummingbird treat. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
The bronzy-black foliage of Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff' makes a stunning feature in the border, even before it is topped with wow-red flowers (RHS color 45A) held above the foliage. For us, "The Bishop" flowers in late June and July and then takes a break from flowering until nights cool in early September, when it resumes attracting hummingbirds with its floral show. For trivia buffs, this dahlia was named for Bishop Hughes of Llandaff (now Cardiff), Wales, UK, in 1924 and won the prestigious Award of Merit from the RHS in 1928. In 2004, Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff' made the RHS list of the top plants of the last 200 years...quite an honor. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
If single-flowered dahlias just don't have enough "oomph" for your garden, then Dahlia 'David Howard' is for you. The dark black-purple foliage composes a 2' clump, topped for most of the summer with large, 4", fully double flowers. Each flower is light orange at the base of the petals and bright orange in the center...attractive to hummingbirds. The orange flower color in front of the dark purple foliage is a real screamer of a combination. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This horticultural libido-raising dahlia from the Happy Dahlia series is hotter than a night in Bangkok's Phat Phong district. The dark purple leaves adorn the 28" stalks (a dwarf...how kinky), which serve as foils for the 5" flaming orange-red flowers with bright golden centers...a hummingbird magnet. Hide the straight kids and grandparents...this is one sexy dahlia! You can dig it figuratively all summer, but also do so literally in the fall if you garden north of Zone 7b. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
I have this fetish for growing peculiar things, and the giant tree dahlia is at the top of my list. In the wild, Dahlia imperialis can reach 30', but our garden plants only reach a meager 9' in height. The bamboo-looking stalks easily grow to a massive 3" in diameter and are topped with oversized but typical dahlia foliage. If you garden in Zone 7, you can forget flowers, which are single pink and always manage to open the day we have our first killing frost. Nevertheless, this tropical-looking gem is worth growing just for its stature and texture in the garden...and to fool all your neighbors with its identity. Have someone take your photo standing alongside your dahlia, and you're a sure-fire winner for the next Miracle-Gro® commercial. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(aka: Dahlia imperialis Double White) From the late California plantsman, Wayne Roderick, comes this unusual form of tree dahlia that we named in 2005. Just like the more commonly grown forms, this selection of the giant tree dahlia makes a clump of bamboo-like stems to 8' tall, topped with typical dahlia foliage on the top half. In mid-November, the clumps are topped with large double white flowers...just about the time of our first frost. Although we love the plant for its form in the garden, those of you with later first frost dates will also get to enjoy the flowers...and so will your hummingbirds. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(syn: Dahlia imperialis Double Purple) Thanks to customer Larry Depuy for sharing this wonderful form of the giant tree dahlia. We eventually tracked these back to the late California plantsman extraordinaire Wayne Roderick, who introduced a plethora of great garden plants. Since it had no valid cultivar name, we have given it one. The 9' bamboo-like stalks are topped in late October with sprays of 3" anemone-like, lavender double flowers...very spectacular and attractive to hummingbirds if you can hold off the frosts long enough to enjoy the flowers. If not, the stalks are a great structural element in the garden anyway. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Dahlia 'Juliet' is one of the stunning new series of black-foliaged Happy Dahlias. Dahlia 'Juliet' makes a compact 2' tall clump of nearly black foliage topped, starting in late June and continuing until fall, with 4" lilac-pink (RHS 78A) flowers. Warning...Dahlia 'Juliet' should be kept at a distance from Dahlia 'Romeo' due to a lethal allelopathic reaction when the two are grown close together. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
If you thought your partying days were over, think again. Imagine a stunning display of bright yellow against shiny black and you get the picture. No, it's not the re-emergence of disco days, it's Dahlia 'Party'. This hot little number from the Happy Single® Dahlia Series makes a 28" tall clump of black foliage topped from late June until frost with 4" bright yellow flowers, each highlighted by a light brown center...a hummingbird hangout. It's time to boogie down...I mean, dig down and plant your Dahlia 'Party'. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Looking for a Shakespearian moment in your garden? It's love at first sight with Dahlia 'Romeo', another gem from the Happy Single® Dahlia Series. The dark black-foliaged Dahlia 'Romeo' is topped with stalks of dark crimson-red flowers, whose color doesn't correspond to anything in the RHS color chart. The 4" wide flowers top the short 22" tall plants from late June until frost...a hummingbird treat. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
I remember exactly where I was when my Dahlia 'Yellow Hammer' first flowered...we tend to do that with really important events. Yes, I was standing in my garden looking at my Dahlia 'Yellow Hammer'. It was indeed a memorable sight, the dark black of the night, I mean...of the foliage and the stunning single flower, opening a butterscotch-yellow (RHS 163A)...did someone mention scotch? Sorry, butterscotch-yellow with orange streaks...that might be the scotch and not the flower. For us, Dahlia 'Yellow Hammer' flowers from early summer until fall, taking time to rest only in the hottest of weather.
Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
From Iran and other nearby "axis of evil" countries comes one of our favorite garden plants. This highly coveted plant will never be found at Wal-Mart...due to its slow propagation. From seed, it takes 5-7 years to become a saleable plant! Prized by florists and gardeners alike, the 4' long green stems that arch outward from a central clump, are clothed with thick waxy-green leaves that remain evergreen all winter. After establishment, the clumps are laden with marble-sized reddish-orange ornamental berries in fall...incredibly easy, durable, and drought-tolerant for even the deepest of shady areas! In Greek mythology, Danae was the daughter of King Acrisius of Argos. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Discovered by French naturalist Jean-Louis Berlandier in 1843, east of Monterrey, Mexico (Nuevo Leon), Dasylirion berlandieri is one of the largest and most elegant of the Mexican sotols. The dusty blue wavy evergreen foliage is about half the width of Dasylirion wheeleri, but the leaves are much longer, reaching over 5' in length. In 10 years, expect a 7' tall x 4' wide spectacular drought-tolerant clump. Unlike agave, dasylirion do not die after flowering. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Dasylirion texanum is a spectacular Southwest native that is the hardiest of the green sotols. Related to yucca, Dasylirion texanum is a handsome drought-tolerant desert plant that is a structural addition to any garden. The long, narrow, light-green leaves are serrated and slightly twisted. Each plant makes a 3' tall x 4' wide clump. This sotol collection from 2,000' elevation just west of Dryden (Terrell County), Texas comes from our friends at Yucca Do. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This collection of the wonderful Dasylirion wheeleri comes from seed we collected near the town of Payson in Gila County, Arizona. This amazing 7' tall specimen sotol had a 3' tall trunk on the normally trunkless Dasylirion wheeleri. Either this plant was really, really old, or was truly genetically different and will produce other trunked individuals...we don't know. If you try one, we'd love to hear back from you in a couple of decades if yours produces a trunk. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Here's a plant straight out of the 1960s, so if you're into tie-dyed t-shirts and bell-bottom jeans, try some peace and love on this baby. Datisca cannabina is a distant cousin of squash...I'm not making this up! This native from Crete to Pakistan starts life each spring as the deciduous stems quickly rise to 8' tall. Starting in late May (NC) and continuing for months, the clumps are topped with long, contorted pendent spikes of tiny yellow flowers...think Janis Joplin's hair after a week-long inebriated binge. While the clump is only 2' wide at the base, the arching stems, clothed with marijuana-like leaves, open to 6' wide at the top...insanely cool and it will drive the cops crazy! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(coll. #A1K-254) In 1997, as we climbed past the base of Korea's Wolchusan Mountain at 1,000', I spotted a huge patch of rabbit's foot fern growing on a giant boulder. Amazingly, this find turned out to be completely winter-hardy back here in our Zone 7b garden. Looking just like the hanging basket plant, the thick "hairy" rabbit's foot rhizomes creep very slowly while giving rise in spring to 6" tall, lacy green fronds. Davallia performs much better when planted on a slope...the steeper, the better. We're still amazed we found a winter-hardy form of this great houseplant. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Deinanthe bifida is a bizarre hydrangea relative that hails from the mountain woodlands of Japan, where it forms a 2' tall x 2' wide clump of rough-textured, bi-lobed, light green leaves. The clumps are topped in June (NC) with white flowers resembling miniature hydrangea florets. The leaves can be cooked and eaten, but we prefer spinach. Deinanthe bifida is about as esoteric as it gets, so this plant is not going to get gobbled up by the Wal-Mart marigold and impatiens crowd. If this is your thing, be sure to jump on the esoteric bandwagon before they're all gone...they're really cute. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Deinanthe caerulea is the Chinese counterpart to the Japanese Deinanthe bifida, hailing from 2,500-5,000' elevation in western Hubei province. While both deinanthe species form an 18" tall x 3' wide clump of upright stems in the garden, the stems of Deinanthe caerulea have four heavily serrated terminal leaves without tip branching, while Deinanthe bifida has a hydrangea-like spacing of leaves up and down the stalk. Deinanthe caerulea is topped in early July with small terminal clusters of intricate nodding blue flowers composed of a stigma and hundreds of anthers...so very cute. Deinanthe caerulea doesn't have the heat tolerance of Deinanthe bifida, so be sure to plant it in cooler sections of the woodland garden with good moisture and good drainage. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
From South Africa's Drakensberg Mountains comes the hardiest and cutest of the ice plants, Delosperma basuticum. This charmer makes a tight 1" tall x 8" wide clump of little jellybean-like leaves topped, starting in mid-April (NC) and continuing through May, with 1.5" screaming yellow daisies, each highlighted with a dramatic white center. The flowers of Delosperma basuticum appear to float just atop the foliage. Although the foliage is technically evergreen, don't expect much of a winter show. Thanks to Pennsylvania plantsman, John Lonsdale, for sharing after I lusted over this in his garden. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
.jpg "Dahlia imperialis (Giant Tree Dahlia)")
.jpg "Dahlia 'Juliet' (Juliet Dahlia)")
