Ball Dahlias for Endless Bouquets
If you grow dahlias to cut, the ball form is where the work gets done. The tight spiral of cupped petals holds its shape for days, the stems come long and strong, and the plants throw bloom after bloom from midsummer to frost.
These are the varieties that fill a market table and a wedding order. None of them is a temperamental showpiece. They just keep producing.
- No. 1
Cornel
Ball · Cor and Nellie Geerlings
The red ball workhorse and the benchmark for the whole form. Summer Dreams puts it plainly: ask flower farmers for their ten most reliable dahlias and many name Cornel. Super productive, strong straight stems, long vase life.
Who carries it - No. 2
Cornel Bronze
Ball BA · Cor Geerlings
Cornel's bronze sport, which Idlewild says blooms its head off all season and makes plentiful, easy-to-divide tubers. The same reliability in a warmer color, and a good one for building stock fast.
Who carries it - No. 3
Jomanda
Ball · Cor Geerlings
A rusty red-orange ball with dark stems that Floret calls one of the most productive varieties they grow. Ball form means a tidy, recurring cut and a long vase life.
Who carries it - No. 4
Snoho Doris
Ball BA · Bill Bonneywell
A ball in shifting citrine and strawberry that Floret calls virtually weatherproof, with long strong stems and a designer following. No two blooms come out quite alike.
Who carries it - No. 5
Jowey Winnie
Ball BA · Jozef Weyts
A dusty-rose ball with a muted bronze cast that churns out armloads of arranger-friendly flowers all season. A must-have color for wedding work per Floret.
Who carries it - No. 6
Brown Sugar
Ball · Henk van Eeuwijk
A rusty burnt-sienna ball so wanted that the grower says every stem is fought over in the fall. The autumn-market color in a reliable ball.
Who carries it