Mystic Illusion Dahlia Bouquet

Sunshine yellow leaves tinged with orange and purple leaves. These incredible dahlias last 5 days in a vase at most—it is a finicky flower in the vase but well worth the shorter timer period.

To keep the buds coming (and keep the sadness at bay) we add unopened buds to your bouquet: these will open over time and, when paired with the petal-less center buds, will continue a beautiful display for up to a week—or more! Just be sure to clean up the petals as they shed off of this unusual, showy bouquet.

The “mystic” series is from a dahlia breeder in New Zealand—Dr. Keith Hammett. With a background (PhD) in plant pathology, Dr Hammett adds scientific elements to his plant breeding programs. He is a pre-eminent breeder both in NZ and worldwide, where he has won awards from the Royal Horticultural Society and been featured in their yearly Chelsea Flower Show.

Dr Hammett got his inspiration from this series by visiting plants in Mexico, their native home, and observing the beautiful foliage different varieties come in. He’s working to create a “modern dahlia” with a stronger disease resistance than most, meaning we should have these from spring through frost!

Dahlias are not the most adapted plant for Sequim since they have pretty heavy water usage. We mulch these under a layer of grass clippings and so far have found their water usage adequate for our area.