Deutschland Dahlias
Big. Dramatic. Breathtaking. Deutschland dahlias make 6-8 inch large red blooms in the formal decorative style. The plant in our costal climate was between 3.5 and 4 feet tall and produced a handful of blooms. It bloomed a bit earlier, but is definitely a standard 90 day to bloom variety. Our plant was a bit crowded by a vigorous Cheyenne and Cooper Blaine. It did not put on as much foliage and only a few blooms. Larger bloomed varieties tend to produce fewer blooms and it didn’t appear to appreciate the crowding it got in our garden. It made several tubers and probably could have done better if it had more space between it and it’s neighbors. Due to the size of the blooms, it would benefit from staking and from pinching lateral buds off a central stalk to encourage strong stems. All the blooms produced were an upward facing flower.
We started growing this variety in a trade with did with In The Trough farm. At the time we were looking for more deep reds and considering trying some of the larger dahlia varieties. Along with the color, Germany holds a special place in our heart as numerous exchange students we have befriended come from Deutschland. We only grew this variety a couple of years before discovering the wind storms that pick up in August, September and majorly in October just treated these bigger bloomed plants really bad. Even with staking, the large blooms get caught like a sail in the wind and rip the plant apart.
We wanted to share our notes here to build this resource and asked on a Facebook page for people who were willing to share photos of their plants as we were not photographing the garden heavily at the time we grew this variety. Laura Sommerdorf graciously shared pictures of her Deutschland and commented on how it was one of her families favorites. In a sweet twist of fate, we sent Laura her tubers so these blooms are descendants of the plants we grew. We are immensely grateful for the donation of these images.
Attributes of Deutschland Dahlias
Height – 3.5 – 4 feet
Color – Deep Valentines Red
Bloom Size – 6-8″
Bloom Style – Formal Decorative
Bloom Time – ~85 days
