Dahlia 'Elga-Bergerhoff' (C) — Bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial

Overview

Dahlia 'Elga-Bergerhoff' (C) is a bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial bedding in the genus Dahlia, part of the Asteraceae family, with green, occasionally dark-leaved foliage. Dahlia 'Elga-Bergerhoff' (C) 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. It is native to Western South America, Mexico and Central America.

About

Dahlia 'Elga-Bergerhoff' is a clump-forming, tuberous herbaceous perennial that flowers from July to October. It produces multiple stems from the tubers with green, occasionally darker, foliage and is grown as a bedding plant and for cut flowers. Plant in full sun in loam with a neutral pH, keeping the soil moist but well drained in a south-facing, sheltered spot. It carries an H4 hardiness rating (average) in UK conditions.

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 'Elga-Bergerhoff' belongs to the genus Dahlia in the Asteraceae family and originates from the dahlia group native to western South America, Mexico and Central America. As a tuberous, herbaceous perennial it forms a clump of stems each season from its underground tubers and is treated as a bedding plant through the summer and autumn months. Give it a sunny, south-facing position with some shelter from prevailing winds; exposed sites reduce flowering and can damage stems. A loam soil with neutral pH that remains moist but drains freely suits this cultivar. The H4 rating indicates average UK hardiness, so choose a protected site where cold, drying winds and waterlogging are unlikely. Dahlia 'Elga-Bergerhoff' fits well in mixed borders, larger containers and formal beds, and is used for cut flowers when in season. Planting in loam-based compost or soil mixes that mimic garden loam will support steady growth in containers. For best results, use a sheltered, sunny corner of the garden and take stems for vases while the plant is in flower between July and October.