Hello and welcome back to the Blog at Main Floral! We hope summer vacation is treating you, and your family, well so far. Today’s blog is very much inspired by a few, recent, summer brides who have requested Dahlia’s in their bridal, and/or bridesmaids bouquets. These full-of-life blooms are one of the most popular wedding flowers right now. (Well, around this flower shop, anyway.) We thought that since we’ve been working with them so much–we’d take this blog to enlighten you on a few facts about these colorful, classic, flowers. After all, everyone seems to love ’em, but so few folks seem to really know too much about them…
Originally, Dahlia’s grew as a wildflower in the high mountain regions of Mexico and Guatemala. (They still do, in fact.) This is why they thrive in the cooler temps, and breezes, of the fall.
They were once grown as a food crop because of their edible tubers. Apparently, they taste like a cross between a carrot, celery, and potatoes. (We’ll just take their word for this one. We haven’t, actually, tried them ourselves.)
Despite the fact that the name ‘Black Dahlia’ became synonymous with Elizabeth Short, the woman who’s murder is still, to this day, a mystery (the whole, unsolved, and super creepy story is here)–there is no such thing as an actual, black, Dahlia. The ‘black’ ones are actually deep burgundy. (They come in almost every color except true blue, and black, actually.)
Their height can range from dwarf plants, which are perfect for bedding; to giant stalks that are nearly 6 feet tall.
There are 14 ‘groups’ of Dahlias. This is important to remember if you have a certain ‘look’ of Dahlia that you like. We always encourage you to print a picture, or have one handy for us to look at on your phone. (Take a look at their Wikipedia page. Scroll down to the ‘Flower Type’ section to see examples of each. We have a version of the ‘Decorative’ one pictured in this blog.)
Dahlias belong to the same family as Daisies and Sunflowers. (Asteraceae Family)
If you’re looking for any type of Dahlia for an arrangement that you’re trying to put together–let us know! We work with wonderful growers who can usually get us what we need, within a few days usually. (If you can, give us about two weeks though, it’s super helpful–sometimes flowers are being shipped from other countries, or are temporarily out-of-stock.) As always, feel free to give us a call, or send us an email!
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