I have seen a lot of flowers in different colors and of different varieties in my garden. The secrets behind multiple colors are mostly different variants and cross-pollination. But dahlias are exceptional. You can witness the color changes of dahlia flowers on a single plant. In this article, I will tell you why dahlias change color.
I will cover these in this article:
- What I noticed
- The color changing combination chart
- What are the reasons behind this color changing ability of Dahlias
What did I notice on my Dahlia plant?
One of the dahlia plants bloomed nicely this year with a pure red color. The first few blooms were purely red and after 2 weeks I noticed that the blooms were changing color.
I noticed a few red petals started showing a white pattern. All the next blooms became bi-color (red and white) as you can see in the picture.
It's normal to have bi-color flowers from the beginning, but after a certain period of time, changing flower colors is not usual.
It all started with these small white patches on the petals.
The next bloom shows more white patches and this continues until the flower becomes totally bi-colored by 50-50 ratio almost.
This is just one example. There's a lot of other color-changing combinations have been observed till now.
Color-changing dahlias observed till now - Combination
| Initial Color | Changed Color | Combination Description |
|---|---|---|
| Red | Yellow | Deep red turns yellow or shows both. |
| Pink | White | Pale pink fades to white. |
| Orange | Red | Orange shifts to deep red. |
| Purple | Lavender | Purple softens to lavender. |
| Yellow | White | Yellow lightens to white. |
| Peach | Coral | Peach deepens to coral. |
| Burgundy | Pink | Burgundy turns bright pink. |
| Bicolored | Various | Stripes or marbled patterns. |
| Red | Bicolored (White and Red) | Deep red becomes white and red mix. |
In the above chart, you can see there are a lot more examples.
In my case, it turned bi-colored from red.
The reasons behind color changing ability of Dahlias
There are multiple reasons for Dahlias to change their flower colors. But among all the reasons, there is only a single particular reason responsible for changing colors on the same plant.
- Genetic Mutations or genetic instability ( This is the only reason )
- Environmental Conditions ( This is something different, will talk about it )
- Cross-Pollination ( Can show symptoms or results on the next-generation plants )
Genetic mutations or genetic instability of Dahlia
Due to genetic instability, one or more particular branches can show different colored blooms.
If you can grow this plant as a perennial plant, you might witness it produces one color flower, and next time on the same plant, it might produce flowers of completely different colors. ( Or even bi-colored )
All these are because of their genetic variability. I am not going deep inside the chromosomes.
And you do not have to worry about this color-changing ability. This will not affect your plant's health.
In the above image, the flower started with a red color and now it's bi-colored. (Visibility of white color suppressing the red color)
The dahlia we find in the wild, are mostly of single-row petals and we made hybrid versions with multi-row petals. This is why we can not guarantee they will always be the same. Sometimes, genetic mutations can be seen.
Environmental stress like sudden drought can make the blooms lighter colored. Even flower needs sunlight to produce nice colors. If you move your plant to a shady area, it can produce lighter color flowers. (Like deep red to pinkish or light red)
I am not considering the cross-pollination here. The seeds produced by cross-pollination can show different colored or bi-colored flowers in the next generation.
