Melody Swing

Dahlia

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Gallery Leonardo'

Summary: 'Melody Swing' has taller plants and weaker anthocyanin colouration of the stems and peduncles than 'Gallery Leonardo'. The flowers of 'Melody Swing' are larger with longer ray florets than those of 'Gallery Leonardo'. 'Melody Swing' produces orange red to red flowers while those of 'Gallery Leonardo' are orange red fading to a lighter orange red.

Description:

'Melody Swing' has an upright plant growth habit. The stem is light green with weak to moderate anthocyanin colouration. The compound leaves are dark green and have a low length:width ratio. There are three to seven leaflets per leaf and wings on the petioles or rachis are present. The upper surface of the leaves has a weakly rugose texture, weak glossiness and raised venation. The margins of the leaf blades have many, medium deep incisions. The peduncles are medium to long with moderate to strong anthocyanin colouration.

'Melody Swing' has orange red, double type flowers which belong to the decorative group. They are displayed above the foliage in a moderately acute angled to upright position relative to the peduncle. The flower heads are medium tall and the ray florets are dense. The ray floret length:width ratio is high. The outer ray florets are straight along the distal quarter of the longitudinal axis. In cross-section, the outer ray florets are moderately concave (in U-shape) at the mid-point. The inner ray florets are curved and reflexed at the apex. The lateral margin at the middle of the ray florets is flat and the shape of the tip is pointed. The colour distribution on each ray floret is uneven. The colour of the ray florets is a blend of orange red with yellow orange ground colour (fading on older florets) on the upper side and orange red with light yellow ground colour on the lower side.

Origin & Breeding History: 'Melody Swing' originated from a hybridization made in a controlled breeding program which took place in Lisse, The Netherlands during 1997. The female parent was dahlia variety 'Gallery Cobra' and the male parent was an unknown dahlia variety. The initial selection of 'Melody Swing' took place in 1998. Since that time, asexual propagation has been through the use of vegetative cuttings.

Tests & Trials: The test and trial for 'Melody Swing' was conducted in a polyhouse during the spring/summer of 2004 in St. Thomas, Ontario. The trial included 15 plants of each variety. All plants were grown from rooted cuttings, planted into 11 cm pots on April 22, 2004 and transplanted to 23 cm pots on June 4, 2004. All colour characteristics were determined using the 2001 RHS colour chart and measured characteristics were based on ten plant measurements.

Comparison tables for 'Melody Swing' with reference variety 'Gallery Leonardo'

Plant height (cm)

Flower diameter (cm)

Colour of ray florets (RHS)

Ray floret length (mm)