Color story
Burgundy & Black dahlias
Wine, oxblood, and near-black. Velvet texture, drama in the vase, and foliage to match on some.
9 varieties profiled
These palettes are our editorial groupings. The ADS classifies color separately with 15 formal classes; profiles note both where verified.
Jowey Mirella
Deep burgundy that shades toward black at the center. DutchGrown bills it as the darkest burgundy among ball dahlias, and in low light the blooms read like merlot velvet.
Chimacum Night
Chocolatey burgundy mahogany, classed dark red by DahliaAddict. Floret simply calls the blooms beautiful mahogany, and in the field they read like dark chocolate with a red wine glaze.
Verrone's Obsidian
Black-red, star-shaped blooms with a silvery reverse on the rolled petals and a small bright yellow center. The ADS color class is purple, but in the field it reads obsidian, as advertised.
Ivanetti
Rich, deep burgundy-purple berry tones in a tight, symmetrical ball. Officially it sits in the purple class.
Hollyhill Black Beauty
A deep black-red, about as dark as the genus goes, on a small informal decorative.
Coseytown Rosewood
Muted muddy red with a contrasting lavender reverse on the newest petals. The two-tone effect, deep red face against a cooler lavender back, gives blooms unusual depth.
Black Satin
Deep black red with maroon under it, and one of the darkest things most growers will have in the field. Swan Island calls it a deep black red in a much sought after color; Heirloom Soul calls it the darkest black dahlia in their field. Sellers file it variously as red, dark red and maroon, which is the usual disagreement about where a very dark red stops being red.
Chimacum Troy
Wine red rather than anything most people would call purple. Idlewild calls it a nice burgundy merlot, Floret the color of red wine, and Heirloom Soul burgundy wine and dark and moody. The ADS files it under the purple color class, chip PR28, which is the registry's nearest bin rather than a description; filed here under burgundy and black, where the flower actually reads.
Rock Star
Dark wine red petals around a raised pincushion center, with a little silver showing on the very tips. Sources reach for the whole dark red vocabulary: Swan Island files it as red and pink, Sunset View as dark red, Floret as deep cranberry, Fivefork as dark scarlet with a garnet center flecked gold, and Heirloom Soul as raspberry with a deeper black center.