Dahlia 'Night Queen' (Ba) — Bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial

Overview

Dahlia 'Night Queen' (Ba) is a bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial bedding in the genus Dahlia, part of the Asteraceae family, with green, occasionally dark-leaved foliage. Dahlia 'Night Queen' (Ba) 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 'Night Queen' is a tuberous, clump-forming Dahlia (Asteraceae) selected for season-long summer and autumn flowering. It produces multiple stems from a crown with green foliage that can sometimes be darker. Plant in a south-facing, sheltered spot in loam with neutral pH and a moist but well-drained finish. Flowering runs from July to October, making it useful 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 'Night Queen' belongs to the genus Dahlia in the Asteraceae family and carries the tuberous, herbaceous perennial habit typical of the group. Dahlias originate from Mexico and Central America and grow from swollen tubers that resprout each season. In the UK 'Night Queen' is valued for its reliable display from July to October and for producing stems suitable for cutting. For best results give Dahlia 'Night Queen' full sun on a south-facing site with some shelter from strong winds. It prefers loam with a neutral pH and soil that remains moist but drains freely; water into the rootzone rather than soaking the crown. Its UK hardiness rating is H4 (average), so it will survive most British winters in sheltered positions but will need protection or lifting of tubers in colder, exposed gardens. Use 'Night Queen' in mixed borders where repeated blooms extend the summer display, in large containers on a sunny patio, or as a supplier of cut flowers for bouquets. Stems are produced throughout the flowering season, allowing regular picking from July to October without reducing the plant's vigour. Cut flowers hold well once conditioned, making the cultivar especially practical for both garden use and floral work.