The best dahlias, my dark sultry beauties

Time to show you some of my beautiful dark dahlias, the best dahlias in my garden. Although I love all of my dahlias, the dark, sultry beauties are my absolute favourites.

Primarily, it is the colour I swoon over, but I also love the variety of flower shapes and sizes of the dark and sultry blooms.

For example, Black Touch and Black Jack are semi cactus varieties and Verrone’s Obsidian is a star shape.

Additionally, Black Beauty is a short open flowered beauty, featured in an earlier post.

Here are just a few of my favourite dark and sultry beauties.

The best dahlias start with Black Jack

First of the dark, sultry beauties is Black Jack.

After sowing Bishop’s Children dahlia seeds for several years, my first dahlia tuber was Black Jack. As a result of this purchase, the dahlia passion was well and truly ignited for me.

I now have four of these beautiful Black Jack’s and they flower prolifically in my garden borders.

The flowers are a large 20cm and create a stunning display when each plant sends up a multitude of blooms.

Additionally, the flowers have fantastic sculptural buds and huge, spiky sea anemone flowers with layers of petals.

After establishing themselves, Black Jack can reach a height of 1.5m or more and despite their size, they will grow in a pot. Make it a large one though if you would like this beauty in a pot!

My Black Touch dahlia

Next, we have the gorgeous dahlia Black Touch. I adore this one and I now have four of them. Surely four is not enough though? Just look at her, sparkling in the rain. Definitely one for a swoon for me.

As a result, I cannot recommend this one too highly.

Beautiful Black Touch is one of the darkest dahlias with large, deep maroon flowers.

Furthermore, this deepest, darkest decorative dahlia has equally dark stems with mid-green foliage. The fully double blooms grow up to 12cm in size.

In addition, this one has a good vase life if you want to pick some for the house to swoon over when indoors. Of course, that would be after dark for me!

Reaching a height of 1.5m over time, this one makes a fabulous impact in my flower borders.

The best dahlias must include Verrone’s Obsidian

Onto my absolute favourite dahlia, the fantastic Verrone’s Obsidian. Surely one of the best dahlias on the planet!

I chose this beauty as my website logo. Primarily for the stunning colour, but also because the flower is an absolute magnet for pollinators.

Although the flowers are small, 7cm up to 10cm, each plant can have several blooms at a time, which looks magical. The height is around 65cm when established so not too tall.

Naturally, I now have ten of these beautiful dahlias dotted around the garden and rarely see one without a bee, butterfly or hoverfly attached.

The petals roll inwards giving this lovely variety its star shape and the golden yellow centre is a siren call to the bees.

A star shaped flower and an absolute star in my garden too.

Therefore, for star quality and a boon for the pollinators, this is a fantastic variety to grow.

Dahlia Rip City

Rip City is a famous dahlia and what a dark sultry beauty this one is.

Sarah Raven spotted Rip City in the early 1990s in Monet’s garden at Giverny. As a result, it is said, she kick-started the fashion for deep, dark-red flowers. Fabulous I think, and I couldn’t be without the deep dark and sultry dahlias in my garden.

The flowers of Rip City are a black, purple, maroon sort of colour.

This fabulous flower is a cactus variety and the dahlia can grow to a height of 1m once established.

What a beauty she is and another one of the best dahlias to grace our gardens.

Dahlia Arabian Night

Next, we have the fabulous Arabian Night. A dark red, almost black colour, depending on the light.

After planting two initially, I now have eight of them dotted around my flower borders.

Classed as a semi-decorative type, the flowers are 10cm and last well in a vase. I do not cut mine as I have noticed that as the blooms age, the bees become interested.

So, despite this dahlia not being for pollinators, the bees do get a feed when the centre petals fall. I have added a photo below of a bee on this dahlia.

Although Arabian Night can reach 1m in height, it will still grow well in a large pot. Ideal for a courtyard or balcony as well as flower borders.

Dahlias, dahlias, dahlias

I mentioned at the start of this post, that the dark and sultry are my favourites, however, I do actually love all dahlias.

For example, I have now fallen for the bright and zingy varieties which brighten up my garden and bring a smile to my face. See the link below for some pops of bright colour and some whoppers; sunglasses at the ready!

10 zingy dahlias for a truly beautiful garden

Furthermore, I also source and plant as many dahlias as I can find for the pollinators. Primarily, these need to be the single flowered, like Verrone’s Obsidian in this post. Likewise, the collarette varieties are fantastic nectar bars too if you would like to plant some for the bees and butterflies.

Therefore, I have pasted links below to some of my earlier dahlia posts on a few varieties that are fantastic for pollinators.

10 beautiful dahlia flowers for pollinators

12 of the best dahlias for pollinators

I purchase most of my dahlia tubers from Sarah Raven and all have been superb quality and grew into strong and health plants. I have provided a link below.

Click here for Sarah Raven dahlias

This blog is an affiliate for Sarah Raven. If you click on one of the links in this post, and make a purchase I may receive a commission, at no additional cost to you.

I hope you have enjoyed this dark and sultry dahlia post, showing a small selection of those I grow.

Next, there will be another tulip post.

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