Jitterbug Dahlia

Jitterbug is a perky cheerful little bloom on a compact plant. It has a vivid pink color we thing sits between a medium and dark tone of pink, with flirts of yellow at it’s center. Each plant we have produces several blooms on a sturdy stalk. We enjoy this variety as a border dahlia. It’s small and bushy, making it a nice dahlia to plant in front of taller dahlias. You have to be careful with this technique and make sure that the shorter dahlias get full sun in the morning and only get shaded by taller varieties later in the day. Jitterbug can get leggy and not very full if taller varieties block the morning sun.

We selected Jitterbug to grow in our initial 30 dahlias. In our inexperience, we planted it in a place with poor soil and a bit more shade. It didn’t bloom that first year. Then poor winter labeling meant that she lived for 3 years as a tuber named Unknown 2018. Because of the short stature, she did not bloom our second year as she was tucked between taller dahlias, so she became known as Short Unknown 2018. Eventually we figured her out and now she gets a place in good sun, without taller neighbors to shade her.