Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Pretty picture: Dahlia 'Dark Angel Dracula,' 'Mussette,' 'Vincent'

My biggest problem with Dahlias, historically, is that I confuse them with lots of other flowers. I think after this spring, though, I've probably gotten that part under control.

Dahlia 'Mussette'

I don't especially like 'Mussette.' It's okay, but I'm not a huge fan of the "explosion of petals" sorts of flowers, like peonies and chrysanthemums.

Dahlia 'Vincent'

'Vincent' is okay, though. I wonder if it's named for Vincent Van Gogh, and what he would have thought about having an orange flower named for him. He semi-famously said that orange was the color of insanity. I've never known why, exactly, but there you go.

Dahlia 'Dark Angel Dracula'

The 'Dark Angel' Dahlias are nice. The picture doesn't quite do this one justice - the dark foliage is kinda neat in person, even if the flower is less elaborate. The 'Dark Angels' sold pretty briskly, too.


6 comments:

Stacy said...

I noticed the Dark Angels dahlia from the road, 50 yards away, when driving into our garden center. The fuschia, which I ordinarily eschew, is amazng against the dark foliage.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

I love Vincent ! Van Gogh and flower .. some how seems fitting .. his atitude about the colour orange ?
Joy

Plowing Through Life (Martha) said...

I'm a little particular to the Dark Angel but I kind of like 'Vincent' too; I'm quite fond of the colour orange in gardens.

Anonymous said...

I have a dark angel dahlia plant in my garden, but its foliage is being eaten by bugs, any tips on how to prevent this? I have other other plants that are flourishing despite the insects...thank you :) Julie

Unknown said...

Hi

Unknown said...

I have a dark angel dahlia plant in my garden, but its foliage is being eaten by bugs, any tips on how to prevent this? I have other other plants that are flourishing despite the insects...thank you :) Julie

I have a picture of it but don't know how to post it :(