Dahlia 'Princesse Elisabeth' (D) (dahlia 'Princesse Elisabeth') — Bushy, clump-forming, tuberous perennial

Overview

Dahlia 'Princesse Elisabeth' (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 'Princesse Elisabeth' (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 'Princesse Elisabeth' is a tuberous, clump-forming herbaceous perennial grown for summer and early-autumn blooms from July to October. It sits in the genus Dahlia within the Asteraceae family and is raised as bedding and for cut flowers. Leaves are green and can appear darker on some plants, and the habit forms rounded clumps suited to borders or containers.

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 'Princesse Elisabeth' is a cultivar in the genus Dahlia (family Asteraceae) grown as a bedding and herbaceous perennial. It produces its flowering display between July and October, making it a late-summer to autumn presence in the border. The plant grows from tubers and forms rounded, clump-forming stems with green, sometimes darker, foliage. Position the dahlia in full sun on a south-facing, sheltered site where soil is a loam of neutral pH that remains moist but drains freely; avoid waterlogging. Treat its UK hardiness as H4 (average), so it is suitable for many gardens across Britain though provide usual autumn protection in exposed sites. Feed and water through the growing season to support continuous flowering. Use Dahlia 'Princesse Elisabeth' in mixed borders, large containers, or as a producer of cut flowers; stems and heads perform well for vase work. Its steady July–October flowering helps bridge the gap between high summer and the first frosts, providing reliable late-season blooms where needed.