White Dahlia Varieties That Brighten Borders All Season

White like snow, like pure light, like ivory and marble, and like the the candid blooms of some marvelous dahlias! Yes, this genus of tuberous perennials is famous for its warm colors, like red, orange and pink, but there are also some varieties in white, and they can keep it bright and shining in your garden all the way from the height of summer to the first day of frost!

Showy and long lasting, white dahlia flowers will help you keep your borders bright and luminous when bloom colors tend to deepen and warm up, as the season progresses and the Sun lowers on the horizon. And for this reason, they are a must have in a Moon garden.

With so many shapes, from single to double, collarette, cactus, waterlily and peony flowered, you can grow a range of white dahlia varieties in your green haven, and it’s like growing perennials from many different species!

Follow us in a flowery journey that takes you all the way from the heat of summer to icy days winter, following a theme of snow colored dahlia varieties, in all their shapes and sizes…

18 White Dahlia Varieties with Great Artistic Qualities for Your Garden

Reading this article will be a bit like going to an art gallery, because these 18 white dahlia varieties are real natural artists, of colors, but also of shapes.

• ‘White Perfection’ decorative dahlia
• ‘Verda’ semi cactus dahlia
• ‘Polka’ anemone flowered dahlia
• ‘Twyning’s After Eight’ single dahlia
• ‘Andrea Lawson’ ball dahlia
• ‘Fleurel’ decorative dahlia
• ‘Peace Perfect’ waterlily dahlia
• ‘My Love’ cactus dahlia
• ‘Honka White’ orchid dahlia
• ‘MyamaFubuki’ decorative fimbriated dahlia
• ‘Joe Swift’ single dahlia
• ‘Ferncliff Illusion’ decorative dahlia
• ‘Fashion Monger’ collarette dahlia
• ‘Tsuku Yori No Shisha’ fimbriated dahlia
• ‘Rebecca’s World’ decorative dahlia
• ‘Alpen Cherub’ collarette dahlia
• ‘Tartan’ decorative dahlia
• ‘Gallery Monet’ decorative dahlia

And if art tries to imitate the perfection of Nature, the first dahlia variety for our list is a due choice…

1: ‘White Perfection’ Decorative Dahlia (Dahlia ‘White Perfection’)

We can start with a classic looking variety, and ‘White Perfection’ is just that! This dahlia belongs to the decorative group, which is the largest and arguably the most popular with professional gardeners and amateurs alike, but it has a big edge over her sisters… Its flowers are simply huge! In fact, they range between 8 and a whopping 10 inches across (25 cm) and and they are packed with loads of petals that give the blossoms a globular shape. But these are arranged informally, with their pointed tips, gently cupped and elegantly arching backwards, and they give the blooms a frilly and finely textured personality.

Add the snow white and luminous color that the blossoms display, and you get a lace like, wedding party themed floral display that will last in your garden from mid summer to late fall! In the center, you will also see a soft lime to canary yellow glow, that adds even more luminosity to this showy spectacle. Looking out atop long stems, these candid natural jewels will rise above the semi glossy, rich emerald green and deeply serrated leaves that form a dense and textured mound at the base.

A must have variety in any Moon garden, ‘White Perfection’ decorative dahlia will also bring the color of snow in great quantities and till very late to informal herbaceous borders, and it is an outstanding cut flower, ideal for a wedding bouquet!

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size:40 to 44 inches tall (100 to 110 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size:very large to extra large.
• Flower type:decorative, informal, fully double.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

2: ‘Verda’ Semi Cactus Dahlia (Dahlia ‘Verda’)

But now let’s see what this creative genus of tuberous perennials can do by mixing the most candid color of all with different shapes… Enter the semi cactus variety ‘Verda’, a spectacular and energetic plant… This group is characterized by a wild look, because its petals partly furl backwards, ending in pointed tips, and they twist and wave, giving you explosive looking blossoms that project a strong and vibrant personality.

But our chosen cultivar does this on a massive scale, because its fully double flowers are between 8 and 10 inches in diameter (20 to 25 cm)! Now, we need to add the snow to ivory white shade that shines on these frilly blooms, and you will get the full picture: a loud floral display but with a candid and innocent voice! Look at the middle of the blossoms and you will also see small, shy dashes of lone green or yellow, and look under the pale, slender but tall stems, and you will also see the lush, semi glossy and deeply cut foliage with its mid to dark green color, a perfect contrast!

Yet again a variety you cannot do without if you want lots of white in your Moon gardentill the end of the season, ‘Verda’ is also a great cultivar for sheltered informal borders and energetic cut flowers. It works best if group planted.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun and light shade.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size: 3 to 4 feet tall (90 to 120 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size: very large to extra large.
• Flower type:semi cactus, informal, fully double.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

3: ‘Polka’ Anemone Flowered Dahlia (Dahlia ‘Polka’)

But the blossoms of our tuberous perennials can also mix colors and extraordinary shapes for very elegant and complex effects, as ‘Polka’, a variety of anemone flowered dahlias, demonstrates. Opening on upright and purplish stems, its flowers have rows of almost heart shaped petals all around, opening fully at the pointed tips, and then folding at the base.

They look like a horse’s ears, and they are perfectly defined by a thin but bright line in perfect deep magenta purple. Inside this delicate drawing, you will see a lovely cream white color that blushes to pale orange as you move further and further to the heart of the blooms. And there, in the very middle, you will see a large circleof frilly, small petals (petaloids) of energetic golden yellow! Each blossom is between 4 and 6 inches across (10 to 15 cm), which is quite large for this category, and the whole floral display will accompany to the end of fall above the lush, cut and semi glossy, rich green set of leaves.

Ideal for a traditional looking space, like a countryside, cottage or English country garden, ‘Polka’ is a bicolor dahlia variety with white that also offers you really charming cut flowers, and a really exquisite choice to add intriguing shapes and colors to your green haven.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size: 3 to 4 feet tall (90 to 120 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size: medium to large.
• Flower type:anemone flowered, informal.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

4: ‘Twyning’s After Eight’ Single Dahlia (Dahlia ‘Twyining’s After Eight’)

And now we meet a classic looking variety, maybe simple at first sight, but not on close inspection: single flowered ‘Twyning’s After Eight’. In fact, it is far more sophisticated and elegant than you might expect, and it has even won the most prestigious gardening prize of them all, the Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society! Look at the eight petals of the flowers that open flat out and you will see that they have softly dented edges, and a very smooth silky texture.

Starting off snow white at the margins, they seamlessly blush to a dusting of pink, starting with crayon painted lines, and then they glow and brighten up to a striking halo of golden yellow! This encircles the central eye, which is of the the Sun as well! The blossoms are not very large, only 3 inches across (7.5 cm), but they stand out really visibly against the super dark, purple’ almost black and glossy foliage with smooth edged leavesand upright stems, creating a really striking contrast for a very sophisticated floral display!

What is more, being a single flowered variety, ‘Twyning’s After Eight’ is one of the best dahlias to attract butterflies, bees and other pollinators, and just imagine them fluttering over your herbaceous borders in a natural looking, informal garden till the end of the season! Then again, you can bring this exquisitely elegant beauty indoors as cut flowers, and it is best grown in groups. Finally, it is one of the most shade tolerant dahlias you can have, but it needs a location that’s sheltered from strong winds.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun and partial shade.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size:3 to 4 feet tall (90 to 120 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size:medium small.
• Flower type:single flowered.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

5: ‘Andrea Lawson’ Ball Dahlia (Dahlia ‘Andrea Lawson’)

Ok, we could easily describe ‘Andrea Lawson’ as a floral snowball! But there’s more to sat about this amazing variety of dahlia… To start with, it belongs to the ball group, or category, which means that its long lansing flowers are perfectly spherical, and about 4 inches in diameter (10 cm). But this amazing sculptural quality is also enriched by the decorative shape of the regularly arranged petals, that form little cells all over, like in a gothic rose window, but in three dimensions…

And its white color will make you think of a marble work of art, in relief, that you may expect on the key stone of a cathedral’s vault. But look closely, and you will see that these amazing fully double blooms slowly take on pastel shades of lavender at the tips of the petals as you move towards the middle, and that the very central petals have a golden yellow light coming from their base! This is also a very generous and floriferous cultivar, which will fill your garden with its large pearls on upright stem, above the rich emerald green foliage, till the last day of the season.

Having very sculptural blooms, ‘Andrea Lawson’ ball dahlia will work very well in informal garden but also in more formal spaces, and it can really bring a texture to any border, or become a centerpiece in a vase as a cut flower.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun and light shade.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size:3 to 4 feet tall (90 to 120 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size:medium.
• Flower type:ball flowered, formal, fully double.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

6: ‘Fleurel’ Decorative Dahlia (Dahlia ‘Fleurel’)

We now meet a variety that fuses the candid light of our color with a really soft and breezy shape, the dinnerplate cultivar ‘Fleurel’. This popular decorative dahlia has a really dreamy personality, which it expresses in a generous profusion of very large blossoms (8 inches across, or 20 cm!) all the way from mid summer to the end of fall!

Very informal looking, the fully double flowers have long and almost fully flat petals that end in pointed tips, and they look like straps of cotton, or even silk, that dance gently in the breeze. The effect is very light, elegant but also dynamic, and the snow white tonality that the blooms display adds that candid touch that brings it all together.

However, the very central petals will show you some cream yellow shades at the base, in a shy manner, to add a bit of mystery. Opening from cream buds, this floral display is set against a dense mound to bright green leaves, with serrated margins.

Yet another variety you should really consider growing in a Moon garden, ‘Fleurel’ is a white decorative dahlia with a free and positive spirit that will keep your informal borders alive and luminous for months on end, or bring a fresh and airy atmosphere to your indoor spaces as a cut flower.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun and light shade.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size: 3 to 4 feet tall (90 to 120 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size:very large.
• Flower type:decorative, informal, fully double.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

7: ‘Peace Perfect’ Waterlily Dahlia (Dahlia ‘Peace Perfect’)

And white is also the color of doves, and ‘Peace Perfect’ takes their positive message and brings it to us with really outstanding blossoms. In fact, this dahlia is candid queen of the waterlily group, and you can see it from the very unusual shape of its blooms.

Distinct rows of softly tipped petals open from the center, and they are flat at the bottom, but gently cupped at the center, forming a rosette that looks like those of the most loved aquatic perennial in the world, Nymphaea.

And you can see the purity of light itself on its flowers, because they shine with the most serene snow white color ever, only shyly blushing to canary or golden yellow in the very center, which becomes a delicate focal point for the very sculptural flowers. 4 to 6 inches in diameter (10 to 15 cm), however, these candid swan like beauties will not float on the water surface, but above a bright green cushion of semi glossy and mainly smooth edged leaves.

The elegant but also formal personality of ‘Peace Perfect’ waterlily dahlia makes it suitable to most informal gardens, including those with an oriental or exotic inspiration, but also more formal spaces, and it will bring its light filled serenity to your borders or as cut flowers with generosity and grace.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun and light shade.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size: 3 to 4 feet tall (90 to 120 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size: medium to large.
• Flower type:waterlily flowered, formal, fully double.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

8: ‘My Love’ Cactus Dahlia (Dahlia ‘My Love’)

And now, on to yet another candid expression of our color, thanks ti the shapeshifting qualities of our tuberous perennial, ‘One Love’ cactus dahlia! This variety blends the very unruly, wild and even rebellious shape and personality of its blossoms with the disarming purity of its shade… In fact, its fully double flowers have many long, narrow petals, which are fully furled backwards, like the tentacles of a sea anemone and with pointed tips that seen to want to move before your eyes.

Each flower is about 6 inches in diameter (15 cm) and double, creating a three dimensionalwaving star that projects energy and a will of its own. But the cream white tonality of these blooms, with very faint pink undertones and leading you to the greenish yellow hart of this strange looking creature adds a luminosity and a touch of mystery that is really hard to describe, and resist.

Then consider that this alien looking floral display opens on top of tall and sturdy stems, and above deep and rich green foliage, and you will understand why the spectacle that this cultivar offers to your garden is really hard to match!

‘My Love’ cactus dahlia is the perfect white variety for an herbaceous border that needs light and movement and a striking, energetic presence till the first day of frost. Ideal for a Moon garden in want of a creative touch, it is also a really outstanding cut flower.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun and light shade.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size: 3 to 4 feet tall (90 to 120 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size: large.
• Flower type: cactus flowered, informal, fully double.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

9: ‘Honka White’ Orchid Dahlia (Dahlia ‘Honka White’)

‘Honka White’ is actually a single flowered variety, but it belongs to the orchid flowered dahlia group because it has a very special twist, or touch… Look at its blossoms and you will notice that they seem to wave at you, and that gives them a very unusual personality, quite exotic, and that’s why they are compared to orchids. The flowers have the natural eight petals, the base number for tis genus, but they are long, and partly furled in the middle, bending slightly to one side and to the back. This creates a space between them, forming a star, and also giving the floral display an elegant dynamic quality.

The pure snow white that you see at the ends will keep your eye sliding towards the center, where it suddenly sparks up to line or canary yellow, for a small but radiant halo. And then, at the very center of the 4 inches wide blooms (10 cm), you will finally find a strong saffron center, almost verging on bright orange tonalities. These beauties will rise up high on very thin but very long stems, appearing to fly in the air, and leaving the rich green and serrated foliage far below, as a carpet, or launching pad…

Perfect also as landing pads for butterflies, bees and other pollinators, the blossoms that ‘Honka White’ offers to your garden till late in the season will bring an exotic but very elegant touch to informal herbaceous borders, but also containers and flower beds, as long as you find a location that’s sheltered from strong winds.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun and light shade.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size:2 to 3 feet tall (90 to 120 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size:medium.
• Flower type:orchid flowered, informal, single.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

10: ‘MyamaFubuki’ Decorative Fimbriated Dahlia (Dahlia ‘MyamaFubuki’)

How fine can the texture of a dahlia get? I think the answer comes with ‘MyamaFubuki’ a white decorative cultivar introduced in 1995. This variety also falls into the “fimbrated” subgroup, which refers to the fact that the petals almost look like fibers, or strips of tissue. And in fact they are, narrow and long, irregular and dented, gently curled forward and packed, but really packed, on the large fully double blossoms that range between 5 and 6 inches across (12.5 to 15 cm).

This gives the generous blooms that come from July till frost a very fluffy and soft look, and in fact, they may remind you of big cotton balls… Then again, this is also thanks to the delicate but luminous snow to ivory white color that the flowers express with great energy, only blushing very to lime green at the center, and in the inner parts of the petals… With strong stems, this old world display of candor floats above a particularly bright green mound of leaves that have irregularly serrated, and even cut margins.

Here is another white variety that’s perfect for a wedding party or bouquet; but ‘MyamaFubuki’ decorative fimbriated is also a dahlia with bright light, softness and texture to offer to herbaceous borders in traditional looking gardens, and suitable to many styles, as long as informal.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size:3 to 4 feet tall (90 to 120 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size:large.
• Flower type:decorative, fimbriata, informal, fully double.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

11: ‘Joe Swift’ Single Dahlia (Dahlia ‘Joe Swift’)

And now another variety that’s great for butterfly gardens and pollinators, because its single flowers attract them, and they allow them to feed all through to the end of the season: ‘Joe Swift’?! A popular cultivar, this tuberous perennial has a really radiant personality indeed… And this is thanks to its eight petals, which spread out flat and fully, revealing their pointed tips, but also wavy margins, creating a star like flower with large, wavering points…

Snow white and with very faint veins on them, the blooms may measure anything between 4 and 6 inches across (10 to 15 cm), and this elegant pattern helps your eye move to a small central eye, crowned with saffron yellow anthers and turing orange and then dark purplish in the very middle. Looking outwards as they open on long and upright stems, these blossoms benefit enormously from the contrast with the extremely dark, virtually black leaves, which are crenated, almost lobed at the margins, and very lush indeed.

‘Joe Swift’ will bring an impressive color contrast with drama and intensity to your garden, but also a bright and luminous, simple but attractive and dynamic long lasting bloom where white is the real protagonist.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size: 3 to 5 feet tall (90 to 150 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size: medium to large.
• Flower type: single, informal.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

12: ‘Ferncliff Illusion’ Decorative Dahlia (Dahlia ‘Ferncliff Illusion’)

Now we are on the theme of contrasts, let’s see what our genus can achieve, when it plays with it with its blossoms… Meet ‘Ferncliff Illusion’ a decorative dahlia variety with amazing bicolor flowers, and also really massive in size, because thee range between 8 and 10 inches in diameter (20 to 25 cm)! And if you think that this would make them showy enough, wait till you see its striking palette. Of course, it has white on its double blooms, and in fact, fully pure snow in tonality and it takes up most of the broad, mostly flat (or gently cupped) and finely pointed petals that form a large and quite open to full, but irregular rosette.

But painted on this candid and luminous canvas, you will also see dashes of bright and vibrant lavender purple, especially at the tips, but sometimes emboldened to take wide strokes lengthways! These super eye catching blossoms have energy and light to spare, and they will shine in your garden till the very end of the season, when frost comes. They also rise above the rich green and serrated foliage on long and straight stems, looking out and up, as if daring to challenge the Sun itself!

Definitely the white variety of decorative dahlia to grow in your garden if you want an injection of light and energy for months and months on end, ‘Ferncliff Illusion’ will brighten up your informal and herbaceous borders if your group plant it, or your indoor spaces if you then cut it.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun and light shade.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size: 3 to 4 feet tall (90 to 120 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size:very large to extra large.
• Flower type:decorative, informal, double to fully double.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

13: ‘Fashion Monger’ Collarette Dahlia (Dahlia ‘Fashion Monger’)

Now, collarette dahlias have a very particular shape, and I think they work better when they are bicolor, as happens with ‘Fashion Monger’. This is because the two shades it plays with give extra prominence to the intricacy of the blossoms. In fact, the eight back, or ray petals, are broad, elliptical and pointed, and with elegant lines in relief that five them into three parts, and on these, you will see snow white starting from the gently pointed tips suddenly burst into a vibrant and energetic ruby red or deep fuchsia…

It so happens that this explosion of fiery heat is behind the petaloids, that inner ring of small, irregular, ruffled and long petals that forms a “collar” within the blossom, hence the name. These too are white, but with a bright yellow blush in their middle, and this leads us to the central eye, where the fluffy stamens lie, with their sunny golden tonality. Looking out and opening on long stems, these elaborate flowers are 3 to 4 inches across (7.5 to 10 cm) and they rose above the dense mound of bright to mid green, semi glossy and fairly smooth edged leaves.

‘Fashion Monger’ collarette dahlia is a very good variety for a butterfly garden, because it attracts lots of pollinators, but it will also add light as well as energy to informal herbaceous borders that have a very naturalistic inspiration. The quirky shape of its blooms make it ideal for a cottage or countryside style.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun and light shade.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size: 3 to 4 feet tall (90 to 120 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size:medium small to medium.
• Flower type:collarette, informal.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

14: ‘Tsuku Yori No Shisha’ Fimbriated Dahlia (Dahlia ‘Tsuku Yori No Shisha’)

We come back to the fimbriated (also called lancinated) group to present you one of the most striking and odd looking varieties in the color of light itself: from the Orient, meet bizarre ‘Tsuku Yori No Shisha’! Its massive blossoms are a tangle of long, thin tentacles – oops, petals – that depart from the center and they twist and bend as they extend in all directions and end in pointed tips.

They are actually fully furled back, as happens with cactus dahlias, and you may think you are looking at an intricate coral or a sea anemone with far too many legs… And a big one at that as well, as the blossoms are 6 to 8 inches across (15 to 20 cm)! When they are not yet fully open, these showy blooms are fully snow white but with a central lome green glow.

But as they spread out their Medusa like hair, this beauty will reveal a central tuft of bright orange anthers! Bright to mid green, glossy and deeply serrated, almost dented leave will give you the perfect backdrop for this dynamic, but candid and long lasting floral display.

‘Tsuku Yori No Shisha’ fimbriated dahlia will bring its maritime and wild personality to any informal border, and it is a real jewel in Moon garden. Its intricate and puzzling shape will definitely become a conversation starter with your guests, also if you cut it an put it in a vase on your dinner table or desk.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size: 3 to 4 feet tall (90 to 120 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size: very large to extra large.
• Flower type:fibriated, informal, fully double.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

15: ‘Rebecca’s World’ Decorative Dahlia (Dahlia ‘Rebecca’s World’)

But our genus of tuberous perennial that has spread from Central America to the whole world with its cultivars is an artist with many styles… In fact, if bicolor ‘Fashion Monger’ uses its contrasting palette for an irreverent effect, ‘Rebecca World’ uses the same colors for a harmonic painting. In fact, dinnerplate, or decorative dahlia has double blossoms that create informal rosettes, quite full, with oval to elliptical petals that have snow white as their main shade.

But the sides blush up to an intense red that hits notes of scarlet but also ruby and even as bright as magenta, and this creates a very powerful but almost regular pattern, like flames, or rays that depart from the center of the flowers and radiate, or flicker gently to the margins. It really looks like fire is bursting and then snow puts it off, all on the same bloom!

However, this is a rather unstable variety, and sometimes one of its two natures (hot and cold) takes over, so you can get a few surprises in your summer and fall garden…And each head is about 5 inches across (12.5 cm) and looking out from pale rosy purplish and long stems, that bring them above the surface of bright to mid green serrated foliage.

Certainly a protagonist in any garden, ‘Rebecca’s World’ is best grown in groups of five or more in informal borders or for cut flowers. Its flowers mix white and energy with great panache, for a white but also passionate and long lasting floral display.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun and light shade.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size: 3 to 4 feet tall (90 to 120 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size: medium large.
• Flower type:decorative, informal, double.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

16: ‘AlpenCherub’ CollaretteDahlia (Dahlia ‘AlpenCherub’)

We have seen a collarette variety with a bicolor palette, ‘Fashion Monger’, and I said that these have the best results, but you may disagree, or you may want full whiteness in your garden, so I want to present you ‘Aplen Cherub’ dahlia as well. To be honest, its blooms are not fully monochromatic, but… The eight back petals at the back are very balanced, oval but tipped and with the two lines that part them in three.

They are pure snow white in color, and they form very regular stars… The collar, or that inner ring with long and narrow, irregular petaloids (small petals) will take up the ivory purity and luminosity of the blossoms but, at their very base, they will form a small halo of bright lime yellow, which is easy to miss at first sight.

And this may be because in the very center of the flowers, an eye of golden to saffron yellow may distract you with its energy! The blossoms are 4 to 5 inches across (on the large side for this group) and they will look out to your garden on long and thin stems that rise far above the lance shaped foliage with lance shaped and usually serrated leaves in mid to dark green, offering a lovely contrast with the floral display.

Maybe the best collarette variety for a Moon garden, ‘Alpen Cherub’ does have an angelic personality but also an Alpine, mountain look. For this reason it will work very well in naturalistic borders and in butterfly gardens, because it is also a magnet for pollinators. Group plant it for best results and keep it sheltered from strong winds.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size: 3 to 4 feet tall (90 to 120 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size: medium to medium large.
• Flower type: collarette, informal.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

17: ‘Tartan’ Decorative Dahlia (Dahlia ‘Tartan’)

Now we go back to the artistic flair for striking color combinations that dahlia have, with a cultivar that seems inspired by none other than Vincent Van Gogh: ‘Tartan’. Ok, this dinnerplate or decorative variety does not use the hallmark yellow of the Dutch painter, true, but it imitates its agonizing, twisting and twitching brush strokes! In fact, its fully double flowers use pure and luminous snow white as a backdrop, or a canvas, that covers most of the very irregular and bending petals with tipped ends, and flat (outside) to cupped (inside) and usually arching backward.  

But then lines of blood seem to drip over them and form rays, or even flows of passion and intensity, playing with the red range that strikes lyrical notes of ruby and deep cherry, sometimes even dark purple and lead you a small petaled center of immense depth. All this is then heightened by the velvet like texture of the flowers. And of the actual size of the blooms, which can be anything between 7 and 8 inches in diameter (17.5 to 20 cm)! Semi glossy and mid to deep green leaves will set this heart rending floral display perfectly well.

Not your classical white flower for a Moon garden, ‘Tartan’ decorative dahlia is instead a powerful and passionate perennial for a striking effect in borders but also beds (being fairly short) that offers contrast and lots of drama, also in a vase after you cut it.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size: 30 to 36 inches tall (75 to 90 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size:very large.
• Flower type:decorative, informal, fully double.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

18: ‘Gallery Monet’ Decorative Dahlia (Dahlia ‘Gallery Monet’)

We have followed the artistic skills of dahlias throughout this article, and so, it seems only fair to close our list with a cultivar dedicated to one of my favorite painters ever: ‘Gallery Monet’. This decorative variety reminds us that the French Master was almost blond towards the end of his life, and this is very clear from the palette of its fully double blooms.

Snow white is the color that infuses them with light and purity, but, while the flowers are not bicolor, they blush only gently, as if with hardly visible undertones, with rosy pink at the very tips, or sometimes, this drop of color draws a gentle brush stroke in the middle of the many, regular, elliptical but with smoothed tipped petals that make up the flowers, flat at the back, and cupped to furled in the middle.

The central ones will also glow with a dash of lime to canary yellow, to add light as if from behind a screen, and draw your eye to the heart of the flowers. About 5 inches in diameter, these natural works of art will grow juts on top of a low mound of rich green and lush foliage, like waterlilies on the surface of a pond.

A short variety of decorative dahlias, ‘Gallery Monet’ may not give you the best cut flowers, but it will bring its enchanting blooms to flower beds, border fronts and even containers till the first day of frost spells the end of the season.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 8 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun.
• Flowering season: mid summer to late fall.
• Size:12 to 16 inches tall (30 to 40 cm) and 1 to 2 feet in spread (30 to 60 cm).
• Flower size:medium large.
• Flower type:decorative, informal, fully double.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

White Dahlia Variety: A Flowery Palette for Your Summer and Fall Garden

And we have cone to the end of this journey; it’s a bit like leaving an art gallery, with creative white dahlias that have painted pictures and left impressions on our imagination, and now it is your turn to be the artist; choose them with care and use them as blooming canvas to decorate your garden till the end of the season…