Dahlia 'Cornish Minx' (Pom) — Bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial

Overview

Dahlia 'Cornish Minx' (Pom) is a bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial bedding in the genus Dahlia, part of the Asteraceae family, with green, occasionally dark-leaved foliage. Dahlia 'Cornish Minx' (Pom) 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 'Cornish Minx' is a pompon dahlia cultivar, a clump-forming, tuberous perennial that carries compact pompon blooms from July to October. It has green foliage that can occasionally be darker on some plants. Plant on a south-facing, sheltered site in loam with a neutral pH and soil that is moist but well drained. Suitable for borders, containers and as cut flowers.

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

A member of the Asteraceae, Dahlia 'Cornish Minx' is grown as a bedding and herbaceous perennial with tuberous roots and a pompon flower form. The entry name indicates the pompon type, and plants are supplied for summer and autumn display, producing flowers from July to October. For reliable performance place plants in full sun on a south-facing site with shelter from strong winds. Use a loam-based soil at neutral pH and ensure it remains moist but well drained; the combination of aspect and shelter reduces stress on the stems and blooms. The UK hardiness rating H4 translates to average hardiness, so expect it to perform well across much of the country when sited appropriately. Dahlia 'Cornish Minx' works well at the front or middle of borders, in patio containers where its compact heads are in proportion, and as a source of cut flowers. Its clump-forming habit makes it straightforward to lift a handful of stems for arranging, and the pompon heads give neat, short-stemmed blooms suited to small posies and mixed vase work.