scarlet dahlia

D. coccinea is a variable herbaceous perennial, usually 1.2-1.5m high but sometimes up to 3m high, with branched, brown-purple stems, toothed leaves up to 40cm long, dark green above and paler below, varying from simple to three-pinnate. Single flowerheads, 8-10cm across, have golden centres surround by ray florets which are usually bright orange-scarlet but may be yellow, orange, dark maroon or many-coloured, from summer to autumn

Plant tubers 10-15cm deep in fertile, humus-rich, well-drained soil, in full sun; cut back to near ground level in mid-autumn, then in mild areas and on well-drained soils leave the tubers in the ground and protect with a deep organic mulch, while in colder areas or on heavy soils lift and store the tubers and replant in late spring after all danger of frost has passed; for more advice, see dahlia cultivation. This species is one of the parents of many garden cultivars

Deadhead to prolong flowering

Propagate by basal softwood cuttings taken in spring from shoots from stored tubers, or divide the tubers, ensuring that each division has a viable bud

May be affected by aphids, capsid bug, earwigs, caterpillars, slugs, glasshouse red spider mite, and onion thrips

May be affected by powdery mildews, dahlia mosaic virus, cucumber mosaic virus, tomato spotted wilt virus, storage rots, leafy gall, crown gall, dahlia smut, grey moulds, fungal leaf spot, phytophthora, sclerotinia, verticillium wilts, and virus diseases

scarlet dahlia

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