From the Asteracea family, Dahlia flowers grow from tubers into a large variety of shapes and colours. They look good everywhere and they yield a strong and lightfast dye that can range from light and bright yellows to oranges and reddish browns.
I tried different parts of the flower over the years and found that centres gave the strongest orange, petals a more yellowy orange. When used together they are just a great orange. I have also noticed that this dye darkens with time and does not rot, which is great news.
Flowers can be used fresh or dried to be used throughout the year. I grew some rather ‘unassuming’ yellow ones, dried them and used them within a few months and I was surprise to experience the strong orange that those yellow flowers yielded on silk.
Red Dahlias are beautiful to look at in the garden but their dye is not as interesting. Their petals yield a pinkish colour. Their centres however are again a bright yellow, very nice. But when used as a whole it results in browner shades.
All Dahlia flowers and tubers are edible. The flavours and textures can vary greatly depending on the soil and conditions in which they were grown, just as the dyes do. It is said that flavours range from water chestnut through to a spicy apple or even carrot. Snails love them too by the way so get ready to protect them. I do so by placing copper tape around the pots o circling the soil. Broken bits of egg shell can also be a deterrent.
