Dahlia Coup de Soleil

The Dahlia 'Coup de Soleil' is a medium-sized decorative dahlia, and a real favorite. Its bright and particularly cheerful flowering, in a palette combining cream-white with orange, where red sometimes joins in. The very double and very full flowers, each distributing its own set of colors from top to bottom; a feast for the eyes. It blooms for a long time, with its buds succeeding from summer to autumn, above a densely leafy bush.

Dahlias belong to the aster family, and they are originally from the high plateaus of Mexico. At present, the few 20,000 horticultural varieties obtained by humans have invaded, to our greatest pleasure, gardens all over the world.
The 'Coup de Soleil' variety will not exceed 70 cm (28in) in all dimensions. It is also classified among the decorative dahlias, which is a horticultural category defined by the shape of the flower. In this group, the colorful ligules of the head are regularly arranged in a spiral, they can be curved towards the stem or even fringed for example. The flowers of 'Coup de Soleil' are about 8 cm (3in) in diameter. The outermost ligules are tender orange to salmon, sometimes touched up with red, and those in the center are cream-white randomly tinged with red. The golden heart of the flower only appears late, just before fading. The flowering takes place from July to October. The habit is bushy and compact. The very branched stems are hollow and the leaves are opposite, pinnatisect, which means that they are divided into 3 or 5 very toothed lobes. The leaves and stems are of a spring-like vibrant green. 

To promote repeat flowering, take care to cut off faded flowers, or even better, regularly make large colorful bouquets by combining it with other varieties. 'Coup de Soleil' goes particularly well with white and pale yellow flowers, or even red ones. In flower beds, this Dahlia will form warm and bright spots in the company of Echinaceas for example, which bloom at the same time, as well as  Hemerocallis or Asters. This variety with moderate growth is well suited for container cultivation, to easily adorn the terrace or balcony.

The star plant of borders and cottage gardens, Dahlias confidently accompany the most beautiful flowers but are also appreciated alongside vegetable plants. In Mexico, this tuberous plant was first cultivated as a root vegetable for consumption. But its poor taste qualities assigned it the rank of ornamental plant. Since then, the interest in their beautiful exuberance has never waned.