The word dahlia means "plant with tube- like stems”. With a blast of different colors, shapes and sizes, Dahlias bring life and beauty back to your landscape in late summer and into the fall months. The diversity of Dahlias allow you to use them in many different aspects of your landscape design, from low growing border plants to stately background plantings which may reach six feet in height. Dahlias make excellent cut flowers, which typically last about a week in the house. Jamaica Dahlia: The Biltmore garden experts chose this one for sheer beauty. The magnificent, almost camellia-like flowers are new in dahlias, and the coloring on this one is a knockout. Sturdy, upright stems bearing double, white flowers with broad, crimson petal edges Growing Dahlias: All the gardener needs to do is plant the tubers after spring frosts in good garden soil with full sun. It's best to position them against a wall or be ready to stake them, since they are brittle, and must be protected from high winds. (If you've grown perennial Delphiniums, the plant size and growth is similar, but success with Dahlias is much easier.) Keep them free of bugs, well-watered, and well-fertilized as they grow, and your dahlias will begin to set buds by midsummer and be in full bloom, usually during July or August. Then the huge flowers keep coming until frost.