HS First Love

Dahlia

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Moonfire'

Summary: 'HS First Love' has shorter plants than 'Moonfire'. The stems of 'HS First Love' are light green whereas 'Moonfire' has dark green stems with purple anthocyanin colouration. 'HS First Love' has smaller flower heads than 'Moonfire'. The varieties also differ in main flower colour. 'HS First Love' has orange flowers and 'Moonfire has yellow flowers.

Description:

PLANT: short, upright growth habit
STEM: light green, medium to strong anthocyanin, even distribution of anthocyanin

LEAF: compound, few to medium number of leaflets, dark green, wings present, moderately deep incisions on margin, smooth or very weakly rugose texture, raised veins

PEDUNCLE: long, medium to strong anthocyanin
FLOWER HEAD: high above foliage, weakly to moderately acute relative to peduncle, single, regular bicolour, orange
RAY FLORET: straight to reflexing along longitudinal axis, distal quarter weakly reflexed, weakly concave in cross section, flat lateral margin, retuse tip, uneven colour distribution, regular bicolour, zoned colour pattern, orange main colour, red secondary colour in basal zone, light yellow orange on lower side
DISC: medium size relative to flower head diameter, red and green brown before dehiscence, yellow orange at dehiscence

Origin & Breeding History: 'HS First Love' was developed by the breeder at the nursery of Fa. Gebr. Verwer in Lisse, The Netherlands. The variety originated from an open pollinated cross between the female parent, a plant identified as Vd1-216 and pollen of an unidentified Dahlia plant as the male parent. The cross was conducted in 2000. A single seedling was selected in 2001, based on criteria for flower colour, plant habit, dark foliage and self-cleaning flowers.

Tests & Trials: The tests and trials for 'HS First Love' were conducted in a polyhouse during the summer of 2006 in St. Thomas, Ontario. The trial included a total of 15 plants of the candidate variety and 10 plants of the reference variety. Plants of the candidate were grown from rooted cuttings, planted in 15 cm pots on May 24, 2006. Plants of the reference variety were grown from tubers, planted in 15 cm pots on April 25, 2006. Observations and measurements were taken from 10 plants of the candidate variety on July 7, 2006 and the reference variety on June 26, 2006. All colour measurements were made using the RHS Colour Chart 2001.

Comparison tables for 'HS First Love' with reference variety 'Moonfire'

Plant height (cm)

Diameter of flower head (cm)

Main colour of ray floret (RHS)

Secondary colour of ray floret (RHS)

Click on image for larger view

Dahlia: 'HS First Love' (left) with reference variety 'Moonfire' (right)