Hollyhill Black Beauty

Hollyhill Black Beauty shared the 2021 Stanley Johnson Medal and ranks thirteenth on the Fab 50 for 2025, a show winner that also became a wedding and design favorite for its rare near-black color. The Hollyhill prefix points to the Oregon breeding program of Ted and Margaret Kennedy, though we flag that pending confirmation. Dark dahlias have a devoted following, since true black is one thing the flower world cannot easily produce, and this is one of the darkest and most decorated. Bear Creek brings it back each season by demand.

Hollyhill Black Beauty is a small informal decorative in near-black red, the darkest dahlia in many a grower's field, as Heirloom Soul puts it. The almost-black tones are the draw, anchoring a moody arrangement the way nothing brighter can. At four to six inches it is a usable bouquet flower. Standard care, stake and pinch. Bear Creek Farm stocks it by popular demand, the kind of phrase that tells you it sells. Ivanetti and Verrone's Obsidian sit nearby in the dark, dramatic corner, though both are different forms, a ball and an orchid respectively.