I don’t think I’ve ever written a post about yellow dahlias…. but I’ve been searching for the elusive perfect yellow dahlia for years now. Yellow is really hard in a southern climate. Yellows tend to be very neon looking down here. And neon is not in vogue with my florist customers. They want warm yellow (gold) or soft yellow (buttercream)- but no neon.

I’ve tried a lot- I see a pretty yellow dahlia, I buy it and 90% of the time - I’m disappointed. Here’s a sample of the ones I’ve tried:
Creamy (puny and doesn’t grow well in high heat), Jo (great form but neon)
Polyventon Supreme (excellent plant and tuber maker but neon)
Winholme Diane (beautiful but no matter how many suppliers I try- the tubers always rot before the end of the season)
Blyton Softer Gleam (too late of a bloomer and stingy bloomer)
Citron Du Cap (neon)
Sunkissed (beautiful form but neon)
Tapioca (not quite yellow enough)
Golden Scepter (always blew it’s center)
Mary Jo (weak stem, great color though)
Honeydew (bright yellow)

That’s just a sampling. I’ve forgotten more varieties than I can remember. (Click the photo and mouse over it to see the variety name)

But this year- Finally!!! I hit upon one that I love. 20th Ave Gwen. And it was a total surprise. I bought 20th Ave Gwen, Softer Peach and Memory all at the same time. I began growing them out last year and for some reason I never saw the bloom on Gwen- either I missed it or it never bloomed. But I decided to take a risk and propagated it anyways. So glad I did— because this year it bloomed beautifully! Gwen has a softer yellow color with a bit of peach undertone as it matures. This really helps the tone down the neon. Now- I will say, pretty much any yellow will be bright and neon like if you let it bloom in high summer in extreme heat. There’s just no way around it. But I’m mostly looking for what a dahlia’s coloring does during September/October since that’s my prime bloom season.

I also rely on another variety for a bit of yellow when needed: Miss Amara. She can be a bit of a color changer- sometimes she’s more yellow with hints of pink (high heat) and sometimes she’s more peachy/yellow (cooler weather). But both colorways work for me!

I’m glad to have Miss Amara back on the farm in higher quantities this year. We had her built up as a major production variety 3 years ago and a ground hog came in and ate every plant and we completely lost her so I had to rebuild from scratch!

Tahoma Curve gets to be an honorary yellow because it’s always more yellow at the beginning of the season- it has the golden yellow factor down really well. (Left picture is early season, middle is mid- season, right is end of season)

I’m happy to be able to say that all 3 will be available in our Tuber Sale this year! 20th Ave Gwen will be limited (but most likely she’ll be available as rooted cuttings when those sales begin).