Matilda Huston Dahlia
We needed a hot pink that Matilda Huston Dahlias provide. They grow well on the coast and over winter well in storage too. Matilda is an early bloomer, before many other varieties and often is the first flower we have in the garden. She’s a short plant and would work well as a border dahlia. Tubers are good size in the fall and she doesn’t stop blooming until the first frost. For gardens with shorter growing seasons, Matilda would be a good bet.
We pulled Matilda into the dahlia bed our second year. Not doing a great job of labeling or paying attention to height, she was stuffed under the grape vine and surrounded by taller plants. She tolerated the crowding and the shade alright and threw her branches laterally through the other plants into the walk way. The next year we were determined to treat her better and give her a life in the sun. Ironically, a tuber broke off in the ground when we pulled plants, so the second year – there she was blooming early and not letting the bigger plants get in her way. We think this speaks to the tenacity of this variety to grow and thrive, no matter the odds.
Attributes of Matilda Huston Dahlias
Height – 2.5 feet
Color – Hot Pink sometimes with silver lacing on the edge of older flowers
Bloom Size – 4-6″
Bloom Style – Informal Decorative
Bloom Time – ~75 days
