Chikadee Dahlia is a pompon type cultivar that brings charm and cutting-garden potential to sunny borders across hardiness zone 8. Its defining feature is diminutive 1 to 1.5 inch button-shaped blooms in raspberry-wine with characteristic white or pink brushing, creating a soft bicolor effect that feels almost hand-painted. Growing to a compact 2 to 3 feet tall with strong stems, this variety reaches flowering maturity in 80 to 100 days and offers the practicality of a manageable habit alongside genuine visual distinction.
12
Full Sun
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8-8
36in H x ?in W
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Moderate
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The pompon blooms are so small and perfectly formed that they resemble tiny jewels on sturdy stems, making them exceptional for cutting despite their delicate appearance. Raspberry-wine petals brushed with white or pink create natural bicolor variegation without fussy breeding, and the compact 2 to 3 foot height means you can fit multiple plants into tight spaces without the sprawl that comes with taller dahlia varieties. Strong stems support the flowers reliably through wind and rain, a practical advantage that serious cutting gardeners recognize immediately.
Chikadee Dahlia is grown primarily as a cut flower, its diminutive pompoms and strong stems making it well suited to fresh arrangements and bouquets where delicate scale and manageable size serve as genuine assets rather than limitations.
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Plant dahlia tubers directly in the garden in late spring when soil temperatures have reached 60 degrees Fahrenheit, timing your planting around your last frost date. Spacing should be 12 inches between plants and 24 inches between rows to ensure adequate air circulation and room for growth.
Chikadee Dahlia blooms can be cut for arrangements once the pompom flowers have fully opened, typically 80 to 100 days after planting. Cut stems in early morning when they're fully hydrated, using sharp shears to make clean cuts just above a set of leaves to encourage branching and continued flowering.
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