Caitlin's Joy Dahlia Tubers

Dahlia Caitlin's Joy

The miniature ball dahlia Caitlin's Joy is a beautiful addition to any summer border or container display. With its vivid pink flowers touched with hints of apricot in the centre of each petal, it creates real impact and colour. The compact blooms and straight stems make this variety ideal for cutting. It creates a riot of colour with other ball and pompon flowers in posies and small vases. Have a look at the rest of our range of dahlias for possible combinations.

Features

• Group: Ball
• Colour: Pink with hint of apricot flush
• Height: 1.2m
• Scent: None
• Cutting: Excellent as a Cut Flower
• Flowering: July to November
• Planting: End February to July

Growing Caitlin's Joy

Dahlias thrive in sunny conditions and prefer a fertile, moist but well-drained soil. They should be kept well-watered in dry weather, especially when grown in pots and fed fortnightly with a high-potassium liquid feed during the growing season.

Deadhead faded blooms regularly to encourage new flowers to develop. Plants may need staking for support. In colder, wetter areas, dig tubers up and overwinter under cover in frost-free conditions. If tubers are left in the ground, they should be covered with a mulch of compost or bark-chippings to protect them.

Planting Companions for Caitlin's Joy

With gorgeous flowers held on straight stems, this bright and cheerful dahlia looks fabulous with other perennials in a sunny, summer border. It blends well with cosmos, salvias and grasses, and alongside other dahlias, especially those with pink flowers and dark foliage like Bishop of Canterbury.

Dahlias are perfect as a cut flower. They last well in a vase and cutting blooms results in more flowers, so you can have beautiful displays indoors as well as outside. Ball varieties look wonderful together, so try pairing with the pale tones of Wizard of Oz or Boom Boom White.

Did You Know?

Introduced in the early 2000's, it is a sport of Ivanetti, which has a deeper purple colour.

Ball dahlias comprise many curled petals in compact flowerheads with flattened tops. They are popular flowers with exhibitors and add structure to summer displays. They come in a wide range of colours from bright oranges and reds to more subtle shades of cream, peach and pale pink. They range in flower size from pompons (up to 5cm) to miniature balls (up to 10cm). Small ball dahlias are the largest of these spherical forms at 10-15cm.

Pot up tubers undercover in large containers filled with multi-purpose potting compost in March or April and plant outside after the last frost in fertile, well-drained soil enriched with organic matter. Water well and mulch after planting. Alternatively, plant tubers outside in mid to late April.