Dahlias That Look Like Cafe au Lait

No dahlia is hunted harder than Cafe au Lait, and none sells out faster. The good news is that the blush palette it made famous is now crowded with alternatives, some of them easier to grow than the original. None is an exact copy. That is the point of this list: to tell you what you actually gain and give up with each one.

If you want the dinnerplate size, look to the giants. If you want reliability in a market bouquet, the original's clock-facing habit is worth trading away. Here is the honest field.

  1. No. 1

    Cafe au Lait Rose

    Informal Decorative

    The closest sibling, a sport of the original in a warmer cerise and lavender-rose. Same plant habit, same production, same five-day vase life per Floret. If you love Cafe au Lait and want a touch more color, this is the first stop.

    Who carries it
  2. No. 2

    Cafe au Lait Royal

    Informal Decorative

    Another sport, this one tie-dyed with magenta streaks over the blush base. Florists grow it for drama rather than the soft neutral the original is known for. The same easy habit, a louder flower.

    Who carries it
  3. No. 3

    Sweet Nathalie

    Formal Decorative BB · Pieter Lindhout, Lindhout Ornata

    Smaller and tidier, a formal decorative in champagne and bisque. It blooms blush early in the season, then settles to neutral. The honest catch, noted by Idlewild, is that it is slightly clock-faced, the blooms tip down. A softer, more reliable stand-in at four to six inches.

    Who carries it
  4. No. 4

    Breakout

    Informal Decorative A · R. I. M. Bisschops

    The size match. A large informal decorative in creamy pink with a butter-yellow center. Grown widely as a Cafe au Lait alternative, but be warned: Idlewild retired it for drooping, clock-faced blooms that do not hold in market bouquets. Best for events where it is used the day it is cut.

    Who carries it
  5. No. 5

    Shiloh Noelle

    Informal Decorative AA · Cunningham

    A giant in pale blush-lavender that drifts toward white in fall. Pillowy and dinnerplate-sized. It produces fewer tubers than some, but the bloom is the romance people want from the original at a larger scale.

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  6. No. 6

    KA's Cloud

    Informal Decorative A · Kristine Albrecht

    Kristine Albrecht's breakthrough, a large blush-white informal decorative on strong stems. Her award-winning answer to the giant blush category, more reliably upright than the original. A step up in stem strength if you can find a tuber.

    Who carries it