Our Top 10 Dahlias for 2026

We grew nearly 100 varieties of dahlias here at re.Planted Farm. This blog narrows that list down to our top 10 performing and favourite dahlia varieties.

We use dahlias for both cut flowers and to sell tubers each Spring, so this list includes varieties we love in bouquets and have generous tuber production.

As our 2026 Dahlia Tuber Sale (Jan 4th @ 3pm) and many others begin for the 2026 Season, I hope you find the list of our best-performing, disease-resistant, and jaw-dropping dahlia varieties helpful.

SO, WHAT MAKES A GOOD DAHLIA?

Here are some the factors I considered while compiling this list.

COLOUR

Dahlias come in thousands of colour variations. On our flower farm, we prefer dahlias that pair well in a wide variety of possible colour combinations. We tend to stay away from stark-coloured dahlias that are only useful in limited pairings.

We also considered our sales channels.

We grow dahlia for our weekly farmer’s market, our CSA and weddings. Each of these markets prefers different colour combinations.

To meet each market's demands in our limited space, I tend to prefer solid colours, pastel gradients, and nothing too ‘loud’.

FORM

From single-petaled collarette types to ultra-full massive informal decorative types, better known as dinnerplates, dahlias come in a variety of shapes and forms.

At re.Planted, we prefer small ball and decorative dahlias. They’re the easiest to work into bouquets, have the best vase life, and are most popular at market. We grow a few select dinnerplates and large decorative-form dahlias for large-scale wedding work.

PRODUCTIVITY/CONSISTENCY

We have 110 frost-free days in our growing region (Eastern Ontario, Zone 4b), which leaves very little time to grow a frost-tender crop like dahlias. So, I tend to value dahlias that are early to bloom and stay productive through peak summer temps.

We also sell dahlia tubers, so while this doesn’t always influence the varieties I select to grow, I still do value dahlias that are generous tuber producers.

Some dahlias also tend to bloom with open centers and change tones quite a bit as the season draws on. I find myself keeping varieties that stay as consistent as possible throughout the season. Colours tend to saturate a bit as we approach cooler weather in September, which I don’t mind, but dramatic changes, like spotting or streaking, are not usually welcomed here on our farm.

 

10) Manoa

The Highlights:

• Bestselling colour in market bouquets
• Extremely robust plants
• More productive replacement for Karma Choc

Manoa is one of the many burgundy dahlias we grow. This variety replaced Karma Choc in our gardens. Its superior bloom form and productivity through the growing season motivated the replacement.

Bouquets featuring burgundy dahlias consistently sell the best for us year-over-year, and Manoa's productivity helps us to keep up with demand. The plants were robust and massive, providing strong long stems beneath each bloom, making it a very valuable variety in our books!

We'll have these dahlias tubers available in 2026.

 

9) Ferncliff Rusty

The Highlights:

• Beautiful,useful and versatile colour
• Extremely productive
• Bloom size makes it very "designable"

I never had enough Ferncliff Rusty bloom this season. Somehow, these mauve-raspberry coloured and easy-to-use 2-3" blooms, paired well with so many colour combinations, making them them one of our most versatile blooms.

That being said, Ferncliff Rusty made a noble effort to keep up with our demand. We were harvesting bunches and bunches consistently each week, once they started blooming. 

We'll have these dahlias tubers available in our 2026 sale.

 

8) Copper Boy

The Highlights:

• Highly popular colour in bouquets
• Very productive bloomer
• Blooms in a variety of conditions

Copper Boy dahlia has been a favourite for years, but this year, it's finally made the top 10 list. The flowers on this bloom come in extremely novel rusty reds with a colouration that allows it to fit into brown and muted wedding pallettes; this is why we started growing this variety. Since then, we've found this colouring brings a dimension to fall market bouquets that customers really love.

In our burgundy/red section, Copper Boy blooms first, and seems to be quite tolerant of being slightly shaded, extreme heat and dry conditions.

You can find Copper Boy in our 2026 Dahlia Collection.

 

7) Ferncliff Pearl

The Highlights:

• No yellow centers
• Pearly white increases versatility
• Consistent form, even through the heat

Ferncliff Pearl has made our top 10 list three years in a row for good reason. It's the perfect white ball. Often white ball dahlias have a slightly yellow-hue around the centers, making them look off-coloured in wedding work.

But because of Ferncliff Pearl's lightly blush center, any off-tones are offset, giving this bloom a iridescent pure white look. Its stems are tall, the plant is productive and it's blooms have a very consistent form- an all around winner! 

Nearly every tuber was attached to an easy to find eye when we divided her in December. 

Tuber's can be found in our dahlia tuber sale this year.

 

6) Bracken Rose

The Highlights:

• Fantastic "bridging colour"
• Manageable plant size, requiring minimal staking
• Must-have for weddings

We recently found out that the variety flower farmer's have been calling Bracken Rose is a misnomer. The variety has now been dubbed Bracken Faux or Bracken Rose (U.S.A).

Bracken Rose (Faux) is a muted pink dahlia with mauve flashback petals, that fade to blush as the flowers age. This soft colouring lends well when paired with peaches, pinks, purples, and reds, making Bracken Rose a highly versatile bloom. Its subtle colouring makes it stunning in wedding work as well!

The plants stayed tidy and mangeable, requiring very little staking through the season.

You'll find Bracken Rose tubers in our 2026 Collection.

 

5) Jomanda

The Highlights:

• Unique orange bloom
• Hardy. Blooms do well out of water for long periods
• Thrives in all weather conditions

It's hard to tell in the image but Jomanda's blooms are a lovely brick red-orange; a very unique colour that blended that rounded out my coral colour palletes perfectly.

Aside from the colour, the hardiness of the blooms are also worth noting. They do very well out of water for long periods of time, and seemed to thrive in all weather conditions.

The plants stayed healthy and strong all season and produced moderate amounts of tubers.

You can find Jomanda tubers here in 2026.

 

4) Mystique

The Highlights:

• Fantasic colour and beautiful form
• Very productive plant
• Long, very strong stems

Mystique\s blooms are challenging color to describe succinctly, and that’s exactly why I love this variety. It's a smokey-dusty-rosey-mauvy raspberry dahlia. One of the few decorative forms we grow, the nuanced tones of Mystique allow us to create highly sophisticated bouquets when paired with lavenders, peaches, and pinks.

The plants were one of healthiest and most robust. The plants produces long, strong stems, that lasted well throught the arduous harvest process.

After years of building stock, I'm excited to be offering tubers of this variety in our 2026 sale.

 

3) Rose Toscano

The Highlights:

• Perfect orange for all-season use
• Manageable plant size, requiring no staking
• Early bloomer

Rose Toscano, in my opinion, is the perfect orange dahlia. Not captured in this image is it's rosey undertone, which mutes the orange. The final result is a soft orange dahlia that looks good in spring, summer and fall bouquets.

Rose Toscano early-blooming variety, making it even more useful in our gardens.

I'm excited to be offering tubers of this variety in our 2026 sale.

 

2) Jowey Winnie

The Highlights:

• Very productiver bloomer
• Mauve colouring is a perfect blender
• Strong, long, hardy stems

I could not get enough of Jowey Winnie in 2025. The plants pumped out loads and loads of long-stemmed blooms and we used every single stem.

Jowey Winnie is peach-pink with mauve centers. This subtle dual-tone makes it a wonderful bridge flower. I found myself creating some of the most divine arrangments when Jowey Winnie was apart of the harvest. 

This variety also produces nice, healthy tubers that are easy to divide.

I'm excited to be offering tubers of this variety in our 2026 sale.

 

1) Valley Tawny

My number 1 top dahlia this season was Valley Tawny!

This new-to-me dahlia hits all the marks:

• It's early
• It produced abundantly all through the summer
• It stayed a consistent in colour all season long
• It produces abundant, easy to divide tubers
• Every stem was useable; no open centers
• The blooms were resiliant in all weather

Above all these things, Valley Tawny is a true buff-peach dahlia. It's a perfect neutral-toned dahlia that works with browns, and other popular wedding roses like Koko Loko and Honey Dijon. It made for some highly sophisticated arrangements.

We're one of the few in Canada who are offering the tubers of this variety in our 2026 sale.

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Most of the varieties listed here will be available at our January 4, 2026 dahlia tuber sale. The online sale will go live at 3pm EST.

 

Did you grow dahlias in 2025? Tell us your favorite varieties or which ones your looking forward to growing in 2026.