Dahlia 'Kick Off' (D) (dahlia 'Kick Off') — Bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial

Overview

Dahlia 'Kick Off' (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 'Kick Off' (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 'Kick Off' is a tuberous, clump-forming herbaceous perennial in the Asteraceae that carries a long flowering period from July to October. It produces a well-branched mound of foliage, occasionally with darker leaves, before raising flowered stems. Plant in full sun on a south-facing, sheltered site to maximise bloom. 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 'Kick Off' is a tuberous, clump-forming herbaceous perennial grown as bedding within the Asteraceae family. It forms a well-branched clump of green (sometimes darker) foliage and provides regular flowers through July to October, making it a reliable late-summer to autumn presence. Give it full sun in loam soil with a neutral pH; the soil should remain moist but well drained. A south-facing position with some shelter from strong winds helps protect flower stems and keeps plants upright. Its UK hardiness is H4 — described as average — so it is suitable for many gardens across the UK when sited in a reasonably protected spot. Use Dahlia 'Kick Off' where you need sustained summer-to-autumn colour: plant groups in mixed borders, place in large containers on a sunny patio, or grow for cutting. Stems hold the flowers well for vase work, so include it where you want regular, garden-grown blooms for arrangements from midsummer into autumn.