Phil Traff, 1993
Creamy
Bred by Phil Traff in 1993, Creamy is a pale buttercream miniature ball dahlia, blooms 2 to 3.5 inches on plants 36 to 54 inches tall.
The ADS files it as yellow, but nobody who grows it describes it that way without hedging. Idlewild calls it a pale yellow that really is closer to ivory, Floret the color of fresh cream, Sunset View pale buttercream, and Heirloom Soul buttercream ivory. Triple Wren is the only one to say plainly soft yellow. Read it as the palest yellow that still counts as yellow, which is exactly what the name promises.
More yellow & gold dahlias- Hybridizer
- Phil Traff
- Introduced
- 1993
- Form
- Miniature Ball
- ADS size
- MB (Miniature ball, 2 to 3.5 inches)
- Bloom
- 2 to 3.5 inches
- Height
- 36 to 54 inches
- Productivity
- high
- Tuber yield
- Reports conflict: Idlewild notes small, thin, pencil-like tubers, while Triple Wren says it makes plenty of tubers for them. The two describe tuber size and tuber count, which can both be true.
Why people hunt it
Phil Traff introduced Creamy in 1993, and Triple Wren describes him as a pivotal figure in the American Dahlia Society. The ADS classifies it 6102. Three decades on it is still carried by farms who grow for florists rather than for shows, which is the useful signal for a variety like this: nothing about a small pale ball goes viral, so its continued presence in catalogs reflects growers reordering it rather than anyone marketing it.
Growing notes, including the hard parts
Creamy is a small ball in the tight geometry that makes the form useful, and Triple Wren calls it super productive with strong stems and a vigorous re-bloomer, which is about as good a summary as a cut flower grower needs. Blooms run 2 to 3.5 inches. Height reports land between 36 and 54 inches depending on the field, so pinch at 12 inches and net rather than staking. The one thing to know before you order is the tuber: Idlewild describes small, thin, pencil-like tubers, which store and ship less forgivingly than fat ones, while Triple Wren reports plenty of them. Thin tubers are not a defect and grow perfectly well, but they want careful handling in storage and they are easy to snap when dividing. The pale color is the selling point, because a near-ivory ball is a neutral that goes with anything.
Sources and references
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