Jowey Mirella

The Jowey prefix belongs to Belgian breeder Jozef Weyts, who folded his own name into his catalog, and Mirella is one of his best-known balls. Burgundy is a workhorse color for market growers and this is the variety that owns the lane: vendors bill it as one of the top three selling burgundy dahlias, and our demand research caught it sold out at five vendors simultaneously. That combination of commodity color and chronic shortage is unusual. Big Dutch suppliers restock it, farms sell through it, and the cycle repeats every spring. Buy it where you find it and let the merlot do the talking.

Jowey Mirella behaves like the classic ball it is: tidy 3 to 4 inch spheres on strong, straight stems, with plants in the 35 to 42 inch range per DutchGrown. Balls in this color family hold up unusually well in heat and shipping, which is part of why florists order it by the box. Pinch once, net the row, and keep cutting; the more you harvest, the more it pushes. Dark flowers can cook in intense afternoon sun, so afternoon shade keeps the color saturated rather than bronzed. Ivanetti covers nearly the same dark ball slot and is easier to find, though it runs a touch lighter, and Jowey Winnie brings the same Weyts breeding in peachy salmon if the dark slot is full.