Dahlia Seed Parents: Our Top Picks Revealed

The Untamed Garden Team
Feb 19
2 min read

Why buy dahlias specifically to use as seed parents?

Finding good seed parents for dahlias can be tricky—especially if you’re after fully double, closed-centred blooms. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. These recommendations focus on developing gorgeous flowers for borders and bouquets. However, we can’t guarantee their suitability for producing show-dahlia quality dahlias.

Most fully double dahlias produce few, if any, seeds, which can be discouraging for hobby breeders. Adding to the challenge, many experienced dahlia breeders keep their top seed parent varieties a closely guarded secret—much like a prized recipe ingredient. When we first began our breeding journey, we spent hours in online forums searching for recommended seed parents, only to find that many weren’t available in the UK.

Over time, we’ve picked up a few valuable insights that we’d love to share. First, if you have specific breeding goals, it’s essential to consider dominant traits and how they might carry forward. Second, always plant reliable seed producers near the dahlias you want to breed. For example, if your goal is to develop waterlily dahlias similar to ‘Hapet Old Charm’ or ‘Kelgai Ann,’ planting ‘Pam Howden’ alongside them increases your chances of success. She will likely produce seedlings using their pollen, acting as a seed insurance policy in case your rarer waterlily varieties don’t set seed as expected.

These tried-and-tested workhorses can be planted alongside your rare unicorn dahlias to yield some truly stunning results.

If you want to breed two specific dahlias, hand pollination is an option. However, be aware that it usually results in fewer seeds. While we occasionally hand pollinate select flowers, we primarily rely on bees to handle the matchmaking for us.