Dinnerplate Dahlias: The Giants

Dinnerplate is the word everyone searches, so here it is. One honest note first: it is catalog language for the biggest blooms, the ADS A and AA size classes, not an official classification. The flowers here run from eight inches to well over a foot.

Giants are a commitment. They need serious staking, rich soil, steady water, and disbudding to one bloom per stem if you want the full plate. They are not market workhorses. They are the showpiece at the end of the bed and the centerpiece on the table.

  1. No. 1

    Penhill Watermelon

    Unclassified AA · Walter H. Maritz

    Floret calls it one of the most beautiful dinnerplates, a true giant in a watermelon-pink, peach, and lavender blend. Everyone who sees it falls for it. Our sources split on whether it is semi-cactus or informal decorative, and we say so on its profile rather than pick a side.

    Who carries it
  2. No. 2

    KA's Khaleesi

    Informal Decorative AA · Kristine Albrecht

    Kristine Albrecht's most decorated variety, a clean white giant that won the American Dahlia Society Derrill Hart Medal in 2018. The consensus showpiece. Stake every plant, a bloom this size will snap a weak stem.

    Who carries it
  3. No. 3

    Sherwood's Peach

    Informal Decorative AA · John W. Sherwood

    John Sherwood's 1944 giant in glowing peach with a purple-haze reverse. Floret ranks it their second most popular variety for floral design after Cafe au Lait, which tells you how florists feel about it.

    Who carries it
  4. No. 4

    Penhill Dark Monarch

    Informal Decorative AA · Walter H. Maritz

    The other Penhill giant, an RHS Award of Garden Merit holder in a smoky plum-to-raspberry blend on notably strong stems that hold the big heads upright into fall.

    Who carries it
  5. No. 5

    Emory Paul

    Informal Decorative AA

    The one people grow to win the largest-bloom class, a magenta-pink giant that can push past a foot across when fed hard and disbudded. A spectacle, not a market flower. Its paper trail is murky, which we flag honestly.

    Who carries it
  6. No. 6

    Shiloh Noelle

    Informal Decorative AA · Cunningham

    A pale blush-lavender giant that drifts toward white by fall, pillowy and soft. A late bloomer worth the wait, with the honest catch that it makes fewer tubers than most.

    Who carries it