Plant Finder

Moana Nursery High Desert Plant Finder & Guide

Group/Class:  Happy Days Series

Brand:  Syngenta Flowers

Description:

Gorgeous lemon yellow blooms really pop against the nearly black, dissected foliage on this vigorous, compact, and well branched plant; ideal for containers, or accenting borders and beds; attracts pollinators

Ornamental Features

Happy Days™ Lemon Dahlia features showy lemon yellow daisy flowers with dark brown eyes and gold anthers at the ends of the stems from mid spring to early fall. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its attractive serrated pointy leaves remain black in color with showy dark green variegation throughout the season. The dark red stems can be quite attractive.

Landscape Attributes

Happy Days™ Lemon Dahlia is an herbaceous annual with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep. Trim off the flower heads after they fade and die to encourage more blooms late into the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Happy Days™ Lemon Dahlia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Happy Days™ Lemon Dahlia will grow to be about 10 inches tall at maturity extending to 14 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 14 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 10 inches apart. The flower stalks can be weak and so it may require staking in exposed sites or excessively rich soils. Although it's not a true annual, this plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It may require supplemental watering during periods of drought or extended heat. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider covering it with a thick layer of mulch in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Happy Days™ Lemon Dahlia is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers and foliage against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.