Amateur Gardening – 10 July 2019

6 JULY 2019AMATEUR GARDENING 19

Canna ‘Tropicanna’

Exotic striped foliage with orange blooms

from mid to late summer. A half-hardy

perennial ideal for a sunny spot with fairly

damp soil. Perfect with D. ‘David Howard’.

Dahlia ‘David Howard’

Fully double orange/bronze fl owers of a

generous size with dark-green foliage.

H: 2½ft (75cm). Very reliable, off ering

plenty of fl owers.

Dahlia ‘Karma Choc’

Dark-maroon foliage with velvety double

maroon fl owers. The fl owers are held on

dark stems. H: 2½ft (75cm). Stunning,

even when not in fl ower.

Phalaris arundinacea ‘Dwarf Garters’

Partner with D. ‘Karma Choc’. A

variegated grass for the middle or front

of a border. H: 2ft 3in (70cm). Looks

great with any dark-fl owering dahlia.

Dahlia ‘Honka White’

A star-shaped pure-white dahlia with a

slight scent. The centre of the single

fl owers is an egg-yolk yellow and the

petals are pointed. Height 2ft (60cm).

3 top dahlia partnerships

vibrant with the white and green
Phalaris arundinacea ‘Dwarf Garters’.
When it comes to flowering partners,
asters are an obvious choice. Aster
novi-belgii ‘Prairie Purple’, with its lilac
flowers, is the perfect companion to
the dark-violet pompom D. ‘Franz
Kafka’. With a height of 2½ft (80cm),
it’s ideal for the middle of a late-summer
border. To partner kniphofias I’m keen
to try D. ‘Honka White’, as the white
petals and yellow centre match the
pokers but offer a contrast in shape.

Cottage-garden look
For a more cottage-garden look, turn to
the cactus dahlia ‘Cabana Banana’. The
fully double pinky-white blooms might be
large, but they’ll complement the single
white flowers of Anemone x hybrida

Top tips for placing dahlias

As dahlias flower so late in the

summer, make sure you have early

summer perennials in the mix to

create a lasting display.

Many dahlias also offer attractive

foliage, so try to match the foliage and

flowers with neighbouring plants.

Grow a few dahlias in cheap plastic

pots and use them to fill unexpected

gaps in the late-summer border.

Simply drop the pot into the border.

Choose dahlias based on their

flower colour and shape to enhance

combinations.

‘Honorine Jobert’. For something a

little warmer in colour, how about the

purple D. ‘Blue Bayou’ (the bees love

this dahlia) with Eupatorium maculatum?

The dahlia grows to 3ft (1m) in height

and the eupatorium reaches 5ft (1½m),

so the dahlias needs to be at the front.

At the foot of the dahlias, I fancy another

purple plant – Sedum spectabile.

The exciting thing about dahlias is that

you can play around with combinations.

If you’re lifting and replanting, there’s

scope to try different partnerships every

year. By simply moving your dahlias

around the borders, you can have a

completely new look each summer.

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Kniphofi a rooperi

Perfect for planting behind Dahlia ‘Honka

White’. Off ers chunky fl ower heads on

stems reaching 4ft (1.2m) in height.

Ideal for full sun.

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