Blooming heck! Dahlias are back in fashion thanks to new shades and rising popularity among royals 

Blooming heck! Dahlias are back in fashion thanks to new shades and rising popularity among royals

  • Garden centres and suppliers report a surge in sales for dahliah flowers
  • The popular flower has had more than 1.3 million appearances on Instagram
  • Red orange and yellow blooms have been replaced by exciting fresh varieties 

Their reputation has been wilting for years – but now dahlias are blossoming once more, thanks to new shades and rising popularity among Royals and celebrities.

Out go garish red, orange and yellow blooms, to be replaced by exciting fresh varieties, including ‘Cafe au Lait’, pictured.

Garden centres and suppliers report a surge in sales. 

Simon Lycett, who arranged floral displays at the weddings of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and the Beckhams, said: ‘Dahlias used to be seen as a cheap flower, rather grannyesque. 

Out go garish red, orange and yellow blooms, to be replaced by exciting fresh varieties, including ‘Cafe au Lait’, pictured 

‘Now there has been a huge resurgence. They are really fashionable for high-end events. Cafe au Lait is the variety being asked for by society brides. It’s spectacular, the most beautiful, perfect dahlia.’

Their popularity can be seen on social media, with more than 1.3 million appearances by dahlias on Instagram.

One of the country’s largest garden centre chains, Wyevale, says sales are up 23 per cent in a year. 

And leading supplier Withypitts Dahlias, based near Crawley in West Sussex, has seen orders rocket, from 500 flowers a week in 2011 to 3,000 a week this year.

Owner Richard Ramsey said: ‘We struggle to keep up and now we have 60 varieties being grown on one-and-a-half acres.’

Sir Roy Strong, the art historian and horticulture expert, welcomed the flower’s resurgence. ‘They have been unfairly derided over the years, poor old things, regarded as naff, a vulgar flower of the garden suburbs. I like the softer shades but I still don’t put them in prominent borders.’

Their popularity can be seen on social media, with more than 1.3 million appearances by dahlias on Instagram. One of the country’s largest garden centre chains, Wyevale, says sales are up 23 per cent in a year [File photo]

Their popularity can be seen on social media, with more than 1.3 million appearances by dahlias on Instagram. One of the country’s largest garden centre chains, Wyevale, says sales are up 23 per cent in a year [File photo]

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk