Overview
Dahlia 'Happy Single First Love' is a bushy, clump-forming herbaceous perennial in the genus Dahlia, part of the Asteraceae family, with green foliage. Dahlia 'Happy Single First Love' grows best in full sun, and tolerates well-drained and fertile soil soils and neutral pH. Its UK hardiness is rated H4. Suggested uses include borders, containers and cut flowers.
About
Dahlia 'Happy Single First Love' is a cultivar featuring single, daisy-like flowers with a bright yellow center and red-tipped petals.
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
Growing conditions
Best soil and position for Dahlia
- Sunlight
- full sun
- Soil type
- well-drained, fertile soil
- Soil pH
- Neutral
- Soil moisture
- moist but well-drained
- Aspect
- South-facing
- Exposure
- Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H4
Plant details
Dahlia 'Happy Single First Love' size, habit and characteristics
- Plant type
- herbaceous perennial
- Habit
- Bushy, Clump-forming
- Foliage
- Green
- Suggested uses
- borders, containers, cut flowers
Care notes
Pruning and caring for Dahlia 'Happy Single First Love'
- Cultivation
- Plant tubers in spring after the last frost; provide support for taller varieties; deadhead to encourage flowering.
- Pruning
- Remove spent flowers to promote continuous blooming; cut back after first frost.
- Propagation
- tuber division, cuttings
- Pest resistance
- Generally pest-free
- Disease resistance
- Generally disease-free
Frequently asked questions
How do I grow Dahlia 'Happy Single First Love'?
Plant tubers in spring after the last frost; provide support for taller varieties; deadhead to encourage flowering.
Where is the best place to plant Dahlia 'Happy Single First Love'?
Dahlia 'Happy Single First Love' prefers full sun. It suits sheltered positions.
What soil does Dahlia 'Happy Single First Love' need?
Dahlia 'Happy Single First Love' grows best in well-drained and fertile soil soil. It prefers neutral soil. Aim for soil that stays moist but well-drained.
How do I prune Dahlia 'Happy Single First Love'?
Remove spent flowers to promote continuous blooming; cut back after first frost.
Is Dahlia 'Happy Single First Love' hardy in the UK?
Dahlia 'Happy Single First Love' has an RHS hardiness rating of H4, meaning it is hardy through an average UK winter, tolerating -10 to -5°C.
How do I propagate Dahlia 'Happy Single First Love'?
Tuber division, cuttings.
More in the Dahlia genus
- Dahlia 'Clearview Cameron' (C)
- Dahlia 'Croydon Jumbo' (D)Dahlia
- Dahlia 'Elizabeth Snowden' (Col)
- Dahlia 'Katie's Velvet' (Col)Dahlia
- Dahlia 'LB Michael Braithwaite' (D)
- Dahlia 'Amazing Grace' (Misc)
- Dahlia 'Aurora's Kiss' (Ba)
- Dahlia 'Black Diamond' (Ba)