Our Favorite Dahlia Arrangements

Published July 2020. Updated September 2024. Few flowers enliven an arrangement (or for that matter, a garden) like dahlias. From late summer through autumn, dahlia blossoms’ diverse forms, range of sizes, and surprising and seemingly endless palette make them a standout. Let this collection of reader-favorite dahlia arrangements inspire your floral compositions.

High Hampton resort’s gardener, Drew English, arranged this bountiful composition of freshly cut dahlias, limelight hydrangea, oakleaf hydrangea branches, and other foraged greenery. See Drew’s tips for cutting and arranging dahlias and learn why they call him the “Dahlia Whisperer.”

Inside his cottage in Somerset, England, garden designer Sean A. Pritchard displays gifts from the garden year-round. For fall, homegrown dahlias take their turn. Photographed by Sean for his book, Outside In: A Year of Growing and Displaying (MItchell Beazley 2024). See more fall arrangements and read Sean’s meditation on autumn.

“Dahlia Whisperer” Drew English mixes multiple colors and sizes of dahlias together to create a big and bold effect in this painterly arrangement at High Hampton. Don’t miss Drew’s tips for cutting and arranging dahlias. 

In this FarmGal Flowers arrangement, a single ‘Karma White’ dahlia contrasts with lush layers of green in a variety of textures. Materials: ‘Benary Giant Lime’ zinnia, ‘Queen Lime with Blush’ zinnia, ‘Karma White’ dahlia, ‘Green Mist’ ammi, variegated pittosporum, yarrow, delphinium, ‘Green Trick’ dianthus, feather fern, Victoria’s lace, Asparagus plumosus, and weeping podocarpus. See more floral designs by Eileen Tongson, plus a step-by-step tutorial. 

Artist Frances Palmer crafts more than clay vessels. Her dahlia garden is another creative example of her hand at work. Everything about dahlias excite her: their geometry, their wild array of forms, their suffused color spectrum—even their precise arrangement of tucked-in petals within a blossom. See more from Frances Palmer’s dahlia garden and follow her on Instagram @francespalmer. 

Renowned floral designer Laura Dowling “flowered” many iconic Parisian places while working on her book Bouquets in 2019. Her exuberant Moulin Rouge bouquet, dotted with dramatic black dahlias and tied with silk ribbon, perches on the Alexander III Bridge with a view of the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Materials list: burgundy peonies, black dahlias, lady’s mantle, and pistachio foliage. See more from Laura Dowling’s flower adventures in Paris.

Garden dahlias mingle like glamorous party guests in an alfresco centerpiece by Flower contributing editor Frances Schultz. She balanced a range of pink tones with a moss-covered container and olive foliage cut from her property in postcard-pretty Santa Ynez Valley. “When you can’t find the perfect container, make one. A wrapping of moss tied with raffia works every time,” she says. Materials: ranunculus, tulips, yarrow, garden dahlias, zinnias, roses, and olive foliage. See more from this story.

For an everyday accent, Frances Schultz keeps her flowers simple and casual. At Bee Cottage, her former home in East Hampton, a vase of orange dahlias from her garden adds a sunny pop of color against the cool greens of the garden room. 

Sources: wallpaper in a trellis pattern by Carleton V; striped fabric by Manuel Canovas

“We look to the garden for bright, happy flowers and mix with traipsing vines—a sort of Constance Spry moment,” says John Loecke, co-creator of the design and lifestyle brand Madcap Cottage. To create a cheerful welcome in the foyer, he gathered an armful of blooms and foliage from his garden in High Point, North Carolina. Along with dahlias in a range of colors, the arrangement boasts zinnias, sunflowers, and roses. See more from the home of Madcap Cottage’s John Loecke and Jason Oliver Nixon.

A romantic creation by California floral designer Kristen Caissie combines large fluffy white dahlias with items you might forage on a summer stroll: wild grasses, persimmon branches, and bunches of spidery, wild clematis. See Flower magazine’s Q&A with Kristen Caissie.

Floral designer Natalie Bowen creates a similar look for a casual everyday dahlia arrangement. Materials: cosmos, dahlias, pieris, ‘Distant Drums’ garden roses, Queen Anne’s lace, tropical foliage, mountain ash, bunny tail, and various grasses. See her step-by-step instructions for this arrangement.

Chef and floral designer Sidra Forman whipped up this tantalizing fall arrangement using only dahlias and herbs. Materials: ‘Pat Feary’ dahlias, ‘Hollyhill Black Beauty’ dahlia, ‘Kentucky Colonel’ spearmint, lemon verbena, and marjoram. 

Another autumn-inspired creation by Sidra Forman appears to spring to life from the hand-painted scenic wallpaper behind it. Materials: ‘Snowbound’ dahlias, ‘Windermere’ roses, white Canadian chrysanthemums, pear branches, thorny olive, and oak foliage. See more designs by Sidra Forman.

Perennial favorite Sybil Sylvester filled the home of Birmingham architect James Carter with seasonal flowers for an open house featured in the book Living Floral by Flower magazine Editor-in-Chief Margot Shaw. In the entry hall, a pewter container holds goldenrod, dahlias, garden roses, black-eyed Susans, blue hydrangea, beautyberry, and pumpkin tree.

Frances Harjeet of Denver captures the abundance of the harvest season in an arrangement starring five varieties of dahlias in a copper flower bucket. Materials: Cafe au Lait’ dahlias, ‘Color Spectacle’ dahlias, ‘Foxy Lady’ dahlias, ‘Karma Choc’ dahlias, buttercream dahlias, ‘Caramel Antike’ garden roses, Benary’s Giant zinnias, ranunculus, scabiosas, chrysanthemums, snapdragons, ‘Zinderella’ zinnias, nandina, gum maple, scented geranium leaves, millet, and wild grasses.  See more dahlia arrangements by Frances Harjeet.

Mandy O’Shea of 3 Porch Farm in North Georgia creates floral arrangements characterized by airiness, long lines, and a sense of movement. This vignette in her signature style uses antique silver pieces and dahlias from the farm boasting the jewel-toned hues of a fire opal. See more from 3 Porch Farm.

A 19th-century painted bench shows off a winsome bouquet of dahlias, autumn leaves, and grasses by Kristen Jas Vietty of Lunaria Gardens. She created this piece for an autumn celebration at the home of Wendy Wurtzburger and Chris Bentley in Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Valley Park.

Eileen Tongson of FarmGal Flowers in Orlando grows her own flowers and herbs on a plot of land at East End Market, an artisan food hub. For a cheerful arrangement, she mixed four varieties of dahlias with other late summer blooms and a trio of herbs in a vintage turquoise vase. Materials: ‘Break Out’ dahlia, ‘Obo Katie’ dahlia, ‘Golden Scepter’ dahlia, ‘Karma Thalia’ dahlia, ‘Oklahoma Salmon’ zinnia, ‘Bouquet’ dill foliage, ‘Bright Lights’ cosmos, spearmint, holy basil, bupleurum, ‘Celway Purple’ celosia, and ‘Alaska Mix’ nasturtium.

For the same event, Kristen Jas Vietty arranged this dreamy dahlia table runner augmented by materials from the garden. The farm table, made from a tree that homeowner Chris Bentley loved, is surrounded by stackable Tolix metal chairs from France. See the menu for this autumn gathering.

Sarah Ryhanen’s barn is an appropriate backdrop for her wild floral aesthetic, as seen here in a design with red dahlias and fiery fall colors. See more designs from Sarah Ryhanen of Saipua.

Memphis-based floral designer Karin Woodward of Haute Horticulture welcomes the arrival of autumn with a festive wreath loaded with dahlias. Materials: magnolia branches, juniper branches, pear tree foliage, cypress branches, boxwood, pincushion protea, poppy pods, strawflowers, sheet moss, dahlias, yellow spray roses, orange spray roses, kangaroo paw, leucadendron, dried cotton, and nandina foliage. Learn how to make this autumn wreath.

For the holidays, Emily Kennedy fashioned a festive arrangement using dahlias, foraged ingredients from the yard, and a touch of fresh fruit. Materials: chestnut branches, evergreen branches, hellebores, weigela leaves, rose hips, fern, holly, croton leaves, dahlias, ranunculus, spray roses, milkweed, black-eyed Susans, gomphrena, coneflowers, pomegranates, unripe persimmons, and figs. Get step-by-step instructions for this arrangement.

MORE DAHLIAS AND LATE SUMMER FLOWERS

• Growing Dahlia Flowers
• Cutting and Arranging Dahlias
• Frances Palmer’s Dahlia Garden
• Sidra Forman‘s Fall Arrangements
• Mums the Word
• Top Tips for Arranging Mums