Vassio Meggos

Steve Meggos introduced it in 2005 as a lavender pink sport of Spartacus, the big red informal decorative, and once you know the parentage the family resemblance is hard to miss: the same reflexing petals and the same architecture, in a completely different color. The ADS classifies it 1108. Swan Island Dahlias still lists it two decades on, which is a fair proxy for staying power in a trade that churns hard. Fran Parrish at Heirloom Soul names it her personal favorite and suggests planting it alone or beside Cafe au Lait, which is a sound read: the two want the same scale and sit at opposite ends of the palette.

This is a dinnerplate that earns the word, 8 to 10 inches of ruffled lavender on a plant running anywhere from 4.5 to 6 feet, so support is not optional. Swan Island records the parentage that explains the flower: it is a sport of Spartacus, and it kept the parent's habit of folding its petals all the way back to the stem, which is where the movement in the bloom comes from. Plan around a late season. Swan Island times it at 120 days, so in a short summer this is the plant still coming on after the early varieties have quit. Pinch at 12 inches, space at a foot, and stake before the heads get heavy. SOLeRA reports a vase life of 4 to 6 days with a daily water change and recommends cutting at three quarters open. Event and wedding growers use it for scale, and Swan Island rates it good for exhibition as well as the garden.