Bocherell

Bocherell comes out of the European trade and it shows in the paperwork: no hybridizer, no year, and no ADS registration turned up in any source, while Dutch and British sellers carry it steadily. The form is unsettled, which is worth knowing before you order. Sellers split between formal decorative and informal decorative, and FAM Flower Farm ducks the question entirely by listing it as simply decorative. Watch the spelling too, because it is sold as both Bocherell and Bocherelle and it is not clear the trade regards those as different plants. The color is the reason people buy it, a lemon to apricot warmth that reads brighter in the garden than it does in photographs.

Bocherell is the rare dahlia you can plant at the front of a border instead of the back. Every source agrees it is short: Breck's puts it at 35 inches, FAM Flower Farm at 70 to 90cm, and Heirloom Soul averages 36 to 40 inches, which is roughly knee to hip height rather than the shoulder height most decoratives reach. Heirloom Soul recommends it for cheery garden borders on exactly that basis. Blooms run 3 to 5 inches, so this is a garden plant first and a cutting plant second, though Dancing the Land notes it blooms well and abundantly on nice dark green foliage. Short plants still want pinching, and they generally do not need staking, which is most of the appeal. FAM records a July to November season in the Netherlands.