Dahlia 'Grace Wulff' (S-c) — Bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial

Overview

Dahlia 'Grace Wulff' (S-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 'Grace Wulff' (S-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 'Grace Wulff' (S-c) is a tuberous, clump-forming herbaceous perennial grown for its summer and autumn blooms. Plants form well-branched stems with green, occasionally dark-leaved foliage. It performs best in full sun on a neutral loam that is moist but drains freely. Flowers appear from July to October and the cultivar is suitable for borders, containers and 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

Dahlia 'Grace Wulff' (S-c) belongs to the Asteraceae and traces its ancestry to western South America, Mexico and Central America. As a tuberous, clump-forming perennial it produces a mass of flowering stems through mid-summer into autumn, and the foliage can range from plain green to occasionally darker tones. Plant in a south-facing, sheltered spot where the plants receive full sun; loam of neutral pH that is kept moist but well drained is the recommended soil. In UK hardiness terms this cultivar is H4 (average), so site selection that avoids exposed, wind-prone corners and waterlogged ground will support reliable performance. Use Dahlia 'Grace Wulff' (S-c) in mixed borders where its July to October flowering extends seasonal interest, in large containers on a sheltered patio, or as a source of cut flowers. Being tuberous and clump-forming it establishes into compact groups that can be expanded over time, making it straightforward to allocate space for future planting or division.