The 'Café au Lait' dahlia family in soft, tonal shades
'Café au Lait' dahlias
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'Café au Lait' dahlias
Dahlia ‘Café au Lait’ has become a reference point in its own right. Its broad, dinnerplate-sized flowers open in softly shifting tones of cream, blush, biscuit and muted pink, with no two blooms looking quite the same as they develop. This collection brings together 'Café au Lait' dahlias and closely related colour forms, chosen for the depth and tonal variation they bring to late-summer borders and cutting gardens.
These large dinnerplate dahlias build steadily through summer before reaching their stride from midsummer into autumn. Plant ‘Café au Lait’ dahlia tubers in spring, after the risk of frost has passed, in a sunny position with fertile, well-drained soil. Their substantial flower heads benefit from support as the stems lengthen, while regular cutting and deadheading encourages further buds to form. The long stems and layered blooms also make the 'Café au Lait' dahlia group particularly useful for cut flowers, where subtle differences in tone become even more noticeable at close range.
The appeal is less about a single fixed colour and more about how the flowers change from bud to full bloom. Cream can soften into blush, warmer centres can fade towards café tones and later flowers may take on a different cast as light and temperature change. Grow several 'Café au Lait' dahlia varieties together for a restrained tonal planting, or use them among grasses and simpler flower forms so their scale has room to register. Lift and store the 'Café au Lait' tubers frost free over winter in colder UK gardens, then replant when spring returns.
