Pink Lime Sorbet Dahlia Bulbs

Pink over chartreuse. The reverse of each petal is a yellow-green that shows through wherever the flower folds, so the whole plant shimmers between the two colors. Green-flowered dahlias are a small, slightly obsessive corner of the genus, and this is the most approachable one — the green reads as a shadow rather than as a novelty.

What you get

• Graded tubers with a visible eye, packed in peat.
• Blooms 4–5 in, fully double, on plants 30–36 in tall.
• Sturdy stems for a flower this size — it holds up in rain better than most doubles.

Design note

Green and pink works because chartreuse behaves like foliage. Put this where a green plant would go — between two strong colors — and it separates them without adding another hue to the scheme.

Planting

• Wait for warm soil. Plant two weeks after your last frost date, once the soil holds 60°F / 15°C at 4 in deep. Cold soil rots tubers before they wake.
• Set them 4–6 in deep, eye facing up, with 2–3 in of soil over the crown. Space 15–18 in apart so air moves between plants.
• Water once at planting, then hold off until shoots break the surface — a soaking wet tuber with no roots has nowhere to put the water.
• Full sun, 6+ hours. Stake at planting if you want straight stems; adding supports later breaks roots.

Season & hardiness

• Blooms 8–10 weeks after planting and keeps going until the first hard frost.
• Hardy in USDA zones 8–11. In zones 3–7 lift the tubers after frost blackens the foliage, or grow as an annual.
• Pinch the center shoot at about 12 in to double the stem count; more stems, smaller blooms.
• Deadhead spent flowers every few days. Left to seed, the plant stops producing new buds.