Nicholas and Terracotta are two incredible light-orange dahlias that we consider essentials here at the farm. Because of their vigorous growth, strong stems, and seed/tuber production, we love them and plan to keep growing them even though they’re fairly commonly available!
Nicholas is technically an informal decorative dahlia, but is often misclassified as a waterlily form because of its inviting, open shape. Terracotta is a semi-cactus form. Nicholas is more of a glowing, almost-peach color, while Terracotta is a more subtle, dusty light orange (literally think: terra cotta plant pot. This is a perfectly named dahlia!).
Nicholas tops out at about 36″ for us, while Terracotta towers to 60″+ for us, even when pinched and continually harvested. Terracotta is usually one of the first few to bloom in our fields, but Nicholas can tend to take its time, beginning to bloom a few weeks later than Terra cotta. Additionally, we space Nicholas a little further apart than most others in our fields, because it produces bountiful, intensely thick layers of foliage, and tall, large secondary buds that can hide the blooms if plants are crowded.
What are your thoughts about these two dahlias side-by-side? Do you find the blooms similar? For us, their productivity, reliability, and general family color are the primary similarities, but since we usually plant our fields in color blocks, these two beauties often end up near each other and “live” in similar categories in my farmer-brain.????????????