Dahlia 'Amazing Grace' (Misc) — Bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial

Overview

Dahlia 'Amazing Grace' (Misc) is a bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial bedding in the genus Dahlia, part of the Asteraceae family, with green, occasionally dark-leaved foliage. Dahlia 'Amazing Grace' (Misc) grows best in full sun, and tolerates loam soils and neutral pH. Its UK hardiness is rated H4. Suggested uses include borders, containers and cut flowers.

About

Dahlia 'Amazing Grace' (Misc) is a tuberous, multi-stemmed, clump-forming herbaceous perennial in the Asteraceae that flowers from July to October. It carries green foliage that can occasionally be darker and performs best in full sun on a south-facing, sheltered site. Plant into neutral loam that stays moist but drains freely. Suited to borders, containers and cutting beds.

About the genus

Dahlias come from the high meadows of Mexico, and somewhere in that heritage is the explanation for how they behave here: tender to frost, hungry, generous beyond all reason. No other plant gives you quite so much for so little. One tuber, planted after the last frost, becomes a shrub's worth of flowers by August — and the more you cut, the more they come.The range is faintly ridiculous. Tight pompoms, spiky cactus types, singles the bees adore, dinner-plates the size of your face. Whatever your garden's mood, there is a dahlia that agrees with it, which is probably why every generation falls out of love with them and then, a decade later, falls straight back in.They're at their best when much of the garden is winding down — late summer into autumn, flowering hard until the first frost calls time. I think of them as the encore. And they always play it.

Written by Henry

In the garden

Dahlia 'Amazing Grace' (Misc) is a cultivated dahlia, grown as a tuberous herbaceous perennial for its summer–autumn blooms. As a member of the Asteraceae it forms multi-stemmed clumps with green (sometimes darker) foliage and produces a succession of flowers from July to October. Choose a south-facing, sheltered spot in full sun and a neutral loam that is kept moist but well drained; waterlogging will impede tuber health. The plant’s exposure preference is sheltered, so sites protected from strong winds will help stems remain upright and flowers intact. Its UK hardiness is H4, which translates to average hardiness in British conditions. Dahlia 'Amazing Grace' (Misc) fits well in mixed borders where summer-to-autumn colour is required, in pots on a sunny patio, or grown specifically for the cutting table. Flowers supplied between July and October give a reliable run of blooms suitable for vases, and the clump-forming habit makes it straightforward to lift and divide in line with general tuber care practices.