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Bishop of Llandaff dahlia

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Bishop of Llandaff is an heirloom dahlia with simple, bright scarlet flowers over dark purple, almost black foliage. It was bred by Fred Treseder, a nurseryman in Cardiff, and named in 1924 for Joshua Pritchard Hughes, then Bishop of Llandaff. It won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 1928 and is still one of the best-known dark-leaved dahlias.

The flowers are single to semi-double, so their pollen and nectar are easy for bees and other pollinators to reach. Plants grow to about 1 m (3 ft) and branch freely. Give them full sun and fertile, free-draining soil.

Bishop of Llandaff at a glance

Growing Bishop of Llandaff in New England

Frost blackens the foliage, and the tubers should not be left to freeze. In New England, lift them in fall and keep them dry and frost-free over winter. Our guide to digging and storing dahlia tubers has the steps.

Like every dahlia it is half-hardy: the first frost blackens the foliage. In Massachusetts, lift the tubers after that and store them somewhere dry and frost-free over winter. Our dahlia storage guide covers how. Seed sold as 'Bishop's Children' comes from this plant. It keeps the dark leaves, but the flower colours and forms are mixed, so it isn't the same as growing the named variety from a tuber.

In Massachusetts, plant the tubers in late May, once the frost danger has passed; they flower from August until the first hard frost. The growing calendar has the month-by-month timing, and our dark-leaved dahlias comparison sets it beside six similar varieties.

Part of our Dahlia tubers & cut stems. Also: Penhill Watermelon dahlia · Labyrinth dahlia · Wizard of Oz dahlia · Thomas A. Edison dahlia · Kelvin Floodlight dahlia · Jowey Winnie dahlia · Sweet Nathalie dahlia · Linda's Baby dahlia · Café au Lait Rosé dahlia · Otto's Thrill dahlia · Café au Lait dahlia.