Paula's Doris Jane Dahlia
Paula’s Doris Jane is a pink formal decorative dahlia that I started from a seed in 2021. I really enjoy her as she is one of the first dahlias to bloom in my dahlia garden. The bloom size is 4.25 inches across at maturity. If you do not disbud, the bloom size will be smaller. The below picture was taken on June 20, 2025. I thought I was having a Paula’s Doris Jane convention! Lol.
I sent a couple of Paula’s Doris Jane tubers to my friend, Andrea, in Woburn, Massachusetts last year to see how she performs in a cooler climate. For Andrea, she started to bloom around July 8, 2025. Andrea loved her dark pink color which she called a peachy/melon color. She also loved the deeper pink almost purple center. Paula’s Doris Jane was one of the first blooms in her dahlia garden. Andrea said that Paula’s Doris Jane could care less about the heat. I loved hearing that!
The above pictures were taken by Andrea. The plants grew to around 3 to 4 feet tall. Andrea did disbud the blooms. She had longer stem length as she continued to cut the stems. Andrea said that she had a great vase life, and she really enjoyed growing this dahlia. Andrea occasionally sells flowers to a friend who is a local florist. The flower shop is called Garden and Roads and is located in Medford, MA. Andrea said the florist loved Paula’s Doris Jane. Garden and Roads posted some pictures on their Instagram of Paula's Doris Jane.
Garden and Roads did a wonderful job using Paula’s Doris Jane is various floral arrangements. They were beautiful! The combination of colors and the creative way the blooms were displayed really stood out to me. Check out Garden and Roads Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/gardenandroads/or their website at https://www.gardenandroads.com/
I love this photo that Andrea posted in August on her Instagram stories as she enjoyed her cup of coffee in her garden enjoying some Paula's Doris Jane blooms.
In September, one of Paula’s Doris Jane blooms was 5 inches across after disbudding! Paula’s Doris Jane loved Massachusetts. Thank you, Andrea, for doing such a great job growing her! You can find Andrea on Instagram @northofbostongardener https://www.instagram.com/northofbostongardener/
Paula's Doris Jane was limited at my December 2025 tuber sale; however, I hope to have a lot more tubers available to sell at my next tuber sale in December of 2026. Paula's Doris Jane blooms all summer tolerating our humid summers in North Carolina. She has great form with petals going back to the stem. I do cut my first blooms as soon as possible to encourage more blooms and longer stems throughout the growing season. I like to cut my blooms when they are 3/4 open as I love the deeper color in the center, the smaller size, and the longer vase life. I usually do disbud as I find it does give you longer stem length as disbudding allows the dahlia to put more energy into the buds that you leave so it improves the quality of the blooms. When I cut blooms to bring inside to enjoy, if I did not disbud, I remove those side buds anyway so that I have better vase life. Sometimes those side buds can interfere with the appearance of the main beautiful bloom.
I cut deeply leaving about two sets of leaves on the stem of the plant. I always must remind myself to cut deeply like I used to do when I sold dahlias to local florist years ago. If you cut your stems too short, the dahlias do seem to continue to bloom on shorter stems. When you cut deeper, the dahlia begins to produce stronger and longer stems. It is also important to deadhead the spent blooms throughout the dahlia season, so your dahlias know to keep growing and blooming as keeping the spent blooms cut is supposed to help with tuber production also.
In my North Carolina location, I plant my tubers in late April and throughout May. Paula's Doris Jane produces a lot of blooms at the end of June and the beginning of July. She does slow down in July with our high dew points in the 70's and nighttime lows in the 70's. I normally cut all the mature blooms in early July. Again, I do cut deeply leaving around two sets of leaves on the stem after I make the cut. Paula's Doris Jane starts blooming again in August and continues to bloom until we have our first frost. I named this dahlia after my mother. My mom passed away many years ago so she did not know that I started a dahlia farm in North Carolina. I know my Mom would have loved this pink, formal decorative dahlia. I hope you enjoy her also! Paula Fisher