Mystery Solved: Not Bell's Palermo Dahlia - September 2026

A week-or-so ago, I posted a photo of what I was calling my first (ever) Bell's Palermo dahlia.  Or...a bloom that was coming off of a dahlia from a tuber that I bought that I *thought* was Bell's Palermo.   But, I was suspicious.  Here's what I wrote at the time:

It is, well, interesting. And large. And, not what I was thinking it was going to look like.

I went on further:

I mentioned that I bought this one (and some others) from Bonny Blooms.  They handle customer service thought a chat window on their site¹ . I submitted a similar note there - asking if this was, indeed, Bell's Palermo.  

Here's what Craig from Bonny Blooms responded:

Bonny Blooms
Hi, I took a look at that picture and you're right - it's not Palermo. Some of my unreleased dahlias were sent in error in the the spring and I wonder if that's what it is - or it could be Candela, but I'd need to see it fully open and perhaps a second bloom as the tones aren't quite right. I'm not selling Palermo this year as I scaled back the farm and pulled about 50% of my varieties from the website to make things a little more manageable until I can find a few growers to sell and ship my breeding work. I'll send out a replacement Palermo to you in the spring. Sorry about the mix up. Best, Craig

Well...mystery solved.  Sort-of.  Craig from Bonny Blooms confirmed it is *NOT* Bell's Palermo.  He suggests that it might be Bell's Candela.  I found this post on Instagram showing this as a Bonny Blooms introduction:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Arden Flower Farm (@highpetalcount)

Sure looks like my dahlia, doesn't it?  Here's a new cut bloom below.

I posted about some other dahlia tubers that I bought from other growers were mis-marked this year like Rip City and Jowey Winnie.   When dahlia-tuber-buying-fever hits this Winter, I'll have to remember that I *should* be getting a few replacement tubers sent to me in Spring 2027 like a Bell's Palermo from Bonny Blooms.  And edit my cart to pull back a little bit.  

Note to future Jake:  You're already getting:  

2 Kelsey Annie Joy Collarette Tubers

2 Jowey Winnie Ball Tubers

4 Rip City Decorative Tubers

1 Bell's Palermo Decorative Tuber

That's 9 tubers to get you started.  

I'll also try to store as many as I can over this Winter - especially the ones that I'm digging this year like Crichton Honey, the non-Rip City one and as many Ivanetti dahlias as I can save. 

 

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^{1. Note: that surprisingly works well. You provide your message via a chat and then a day-or-two-later, you get an email with your response.↩}