The Figaro dahlias I sprouted from seed last winter must have liked the weather we had this growing season (very wet at the beginning and very dry at the end) because they were some of the biggest plants in my flowerbeds.
I usually plant them in the second row of a flowerbed or border, but this year they could’ve been in the third row—they blocked out all the plants behind them!
These little dahlias bloomed in a nice variety of colors, and the flowers started appearing in early June and have continued right into October.
Figaro dahlias are supposed to grow 14 to 18 inches tall. I love them because they happily bloom in part-shade (which I have plenty of), rabbits don’t bother them and they have few disease issues—just the occasional bout of powdery mildew.
They also attract pollinators:
I gave these flowers up when the Japanese beetle wave arrived more than a decade ago, but now that the beetles have subsided significantly, I’m glad to have these colorful and long-blooming annuals back in rotation!