Autumn on Mainau is dahlia time – a wonderful firework of blossoms covers the dahlia hill from the end of August until the first frosts. The highlight of the show is the annual voting for the Mainau Queen of Dahlias. This takes place for the 57th time this year. Visitors can vote from 3 September – 3 October 2010.
The dahlia garden lies at the foot of the island’s southern slope and covers an area of 2,400 square metres. Around 12,000 dahlias in more than 270 varieties present a fantastic blaze of colour. The dahlias are planted according to colour and staggered according to height. An ocean of warm and cool colours invites you to amble through the garden in search of your favourite dahlia. The choice couldn’t be greater. There are the ever popular cactus and semi-cactus dahlias as well as anemone, ball, single, double, ruff, antler, mignon, pompom, peony and water lily dahlias in all imaginable colours.
The smallest dahlia grows to a height of 40cm whereas the tallest can reach 2 m. Dahlia blossoms vary in size from just 4 cm - mignon dahlias up to 25 cm - large flowering decorative dahlias. An assortment of new dahlias, not yet available on the market, is also presented at the dahlia show.
Some of our Mainau Queen of Dahlias:
• Vulkan 1979, 1980, 1981
• Tartan 1984, 1989, 2007
• Jessica 1985, 2004
• Neo 2008