Overview

Dahlia 'Gallery Matisse' (Gallery Series) (D) is a bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial bedding in the genus Dahlia, part of the Asteraceae family, with green, occasionally dark-leaved foliage. Dahlia 'Gallery Matisse' (Gallery Series) (D) 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 'Gallery Matisse' (Gallery Series) is a bedding, herbaceous perennial with well-branched, clump-forming, tuberous growth and green foliage that can be darker on some plants. It prefers full sun in loamy, neutral soil that remains moist but is well drained. Plant in a south-facing, sheltered position for best results. Flowers are produced from July to October and the variety is suitable for borders, containers and cutting.

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 'Gallery Matisse' (Gallery Series) belongs to the Asteraceae and grows as a tuberous, clump-forming herbaceous perennial suited to summer-display planting. The plant produces a season of blooms from July to October and carries green foliage that is occasionally darker on some specimens. Its growth habit makes it appropriate for formal bedding schemes and mixed herbaceous borders where mid to late summer colour is required. Place the dahlia in a site that receives full sun and is sheltered from strong exposure; a south-facing aspect is recommended. It performs best in loam of neutral pH that keeps moisture yet drains freely, avoiding waterlogged conditions that stress the tubers. In UK terms it carries an H4 rating, which translates to average garden hardiness; choose a protected spot where soil and microclimate reduce winter exposure. Use this cultivar in containers or borders, and as a source of cut flowers: stems holding blooms from July through October are useful for vase work. The tuberous, clump-forming habit gives repeatable seasonal structure in summer beds and makes it straightforward to isolate clumps for relocation or division when replanting space is needed.

Growing conditions

Best soil and position for Dahlia

Sunlight

Full sun

Soil type

Loam

Soil pH

Neutral

Soil moisture

Moist but well-drained

Aspect

South-facing

Exposure

Sheltered

UK hardiness

H4

Plant details

Dahlia 'Gallery Matisse' (Gallery Series) (D) size, habit and characteristics

Plant type

Bedding, Herbaceous Perennial

Habit

Bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial

Foliage

Green, occasionally dark-leaved

Suggested uses

Borders, containers, cut flowers

Care notes

Pruning and caring for Dahlia 'Gallery Matisse' (Gallery Series) (D)

Propagation

Division, cuttings, seed

Pest resistance

Generally pest-resistant

Disease resistance

Generally disease-resistant

Frequently asked questions

More in the Dahlia genus

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• Dahlia 'Black Diamond' (Ba)