My First Tsuki Yori No Shisha (Semi-Cactus) Dahlia Bloom - White Dahlia - July 2026

Dahlia cut flower season¹ rolls on with my first (ever) white dahlia bloom.  A first (for me) Tsuki Yori No Shisha (Semi-Cactus) Dahlia white bloom that I cut on long stems.  This is planted IB2DWs, sort-of under the Bald Cypress tree along the driveway.  

See below for the flower and a couple of secondary buds that I cut-off when I took this bloom.  (I hate this part of the dahlia cut flower season when I end up sacrificing so many flowers in service of seeking longer stems.)

Below shows the two sacrificial buds on either side of the big bloom.  My experience says that dahlias don't *REALLY* open up once they are cut, so those two will stay semi-closed buds.  

Tsuki Yori No Shisha (Semi-Cactus) Dahlia Bloom

Longfield Gardens has a listing up that includes this description:

This stunning semi-cactus dahlia was bred in Japan and introduced in 1953. Its delicately fringed, snowy white petals give the big, 6 to 7" flowers a frilly look that will capture your heart. Elegant in big mixed bouquets and a great choice for weddings.

1953.  That's "heirloom" territory, right?  Japanese dahlia, too.  Love all of that.  

Gardenia describes this as "one of the best fimbriated dahlias".  (Note:  I'm not going to link to Gardenia because of how they are weird with copy/paste stuff and linking and ....imho...generally NOT a good Web neighbor.).  You can search for their page by searching for: [tsuki yori no dahlia gardenia] and their page will come up.

But...wait a second.  "fimbriated dahlia"?!?

I'm CERTAINTLY NO EXPERT (Just a novice) dahlia grower, but I've been at this for a number of years.  Learning, researching, reading, watching, planting and growing dahlias.  And, I have not once before just now where I have come across the term "fimbriated".  

The Dahlia Society of Victoria has a page up explaining fimbriated dahlias.  They say:

Fimbriations, sometimes called laciniations, are splits in the tips of the florets.

Splits in the tips.  Interesting.  They also say that the most common fimbriated dahlias are cactus dahlias.  

DahliaWorld goes further:

Fimbriated dahlias have blooms where the tips of the ray florets should be evenly split or notched into two or more divisions, uniformly throughout the bloom to create a fringed overall effect. The petals may be flat, involute, revolute, straight, incurving or twisted.

Fimbriation can occur with any petal formation, but it is most prevalent with Cactus and Semi-Cactus forms. As some petals are split into more than two ends, these dahlias are known as Laciniated in North America.

Split uniformly.  And..."fringed overall effect".  

This explanation leads me to believe that fimbriation is a mutation?   As "Fimbriation can occur with any petal formation".  

So, it would seem that *most* Fimbriated dahlias are Cactus or Semi-Cactus.  But, not all Cactus or Semi-Cactus are Fimbriated.

The National Dahlia Society (UK) has a page up for "Dahlia Classification and Formation" where they list the types: Single, Collerette, Waterlily, Decorative, Pompon, Cactus, Semi-Cactus and Ball.  But, they also include (in that same list):  Group 11- Fimbriated Dahlias.  As a class. (or group).  Or...in my parlance:  type.  

This is a TIL moment.  Today, I learned about Fimbriated Dahlias.

And, I'm growing one.  A white one.  From the 1950's.  From Japan.  

Here, below, is how it looks in a mixed dahlia (and other garden cuttings) arrangement on our countertop:

This feels like an easy one to grow every season.  Save the tubers and (maybe?) divide them in the Spring.  Or, buy again if I see it at the store.  

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^{1. Ahem...*EARLY* Dahlia cut flower season.↩}