Penny Lane Dahlia
Penny Lane Dahlias can be fuller, but ours presents more like a collarette. We are attracted to the color variation in this dahlia and like the yellow center as it blends to the cream petals. Each petal shows a variety of orange/red streaks. The bees visit this flower frequently and although we have not brought this one in for cut flowers, we appreciate the flower as a pollinator for our friendly neighborhood bees. The stems are strong and don’t get blown around by the wind and the plant always has at least 3 or 4 blooms open at a time. Like another variety we grow in similar tones to Penny Lane, this plant produces long long long skinny tubers. Some years we have pulled tubers that are over ten inches long but less than a half inch in diameter.
We picked up Penny Lane in a box store before we were aware of imported tubers and potential for disease. We were lucky that the tubers never presented any issues. The bloom is supposed to be fuller, but we happened to get a plant with the genetics for an open center. Many people like the open center and a friend created the most astounding bouquet for her son’s teacher on the first day of school. We were convinced we were going to let Penny Lane go to grow something else, but after seeing that bouquet, we are in debate. The open center is a bit endearing.
Attributes of Penny Lane Dahlias
Height – 3.5 to 4 feet
Color – Cream with Orange/Red Stripes
Bloom Size – 3.5″
Bloom Style – Double Bloom/ Collarette
Bloom Time – ~90 day
