Gallery Bellini

Dahlia

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Melody Lizza'

Summary: 'Gallery Bellini' has shorter plants and shorter peduncles than 'Melody Lizza'. The attitude of the flower head relative to the peduncle is weak to moderately angled for 'Gallery Bellini' while it is upright for 'Melody Lizza'. 'Gallery Bellini' has larger flowers than 'Melody Lizza'. The ray floret tips of 'Gallery Bellini' are deeply dentate while those of 'Melody Lizza' are dentate. The flower head colour group for 'Gallery Lizza' is medium pink while it is dark pink for 'Melody Lizza'.

Description:

'Gallery Bellini' has an upright plant growth habit. The stem is light green with weak to strong anthocyanin colouration. The mostly compound leaves are medium to dark green and have a low length:width ratio. There are one, three or five 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 flat venation. The margins of the leaf blades have many, deep incisions. The peduncles are medium in length with moderate to strong anthocyanin colouration.

'Gallery Bellini' has medium pink, daisy-eyed double type flowers which belong to the decorative group. They are displayed above the foliage in a weakly to moderately acute angled position relative to the peduncle. The flower heads are medium tall and the ray florets are dense. The ray floret length:width ratio is medium. The ray florets are straight to reflexed along the longitudinal axis. In cross-section, the mid-point of the outer ray florets is flat to weakly convex (in U-shape) and the mid-point of the inner ray florets is weakly folded inward (in V-shape). The shape of the tip of the ray florets is deeply dentate. The colour distribution on each ray floret is uneven. The colour of the ray florets is a blend of bright blue pink with white ground colour and yellow base on the upper side and bright blue pink with light blue pink apex and white base on the lower side.

Origin & Breeding History: 'Gallery Bellini' was discovered by the breeder, Aad W.M. Verwer, as a natural-whole plant mutation of the variety 'Gallery Pablo'. It was selected during the summer of 1999 at the Verwer nursery in Lisse, the Netherlands. Selection of 'Gallery Bellini' was based on its compact plant growth habit, good branching characteristics, early flowering and abundant flowers that perform well outdoors.

Tests & Trials: The test and trial for 'Gallery Bellini' 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 'Gallery Bellini' with reference variety 'Melody Lizza'

Plant height (cm)

Flower diameter (cm)

Colour of upper side of ray floret (RHS)

Colour of lower side of ray floret (RHS)