Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden’s Dahlia Early Bird Mix offers a vibrant cluster of early-flowering dahlias with pink, yellow, and white petals surrounding yellow centers—ideal for brightening patio pots or any garden setting.
Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden’s Dahlia Early Bird Mix offers a vibrant cluster of early-flowering dahlias with pink, yellow, and white petals surrounding yellow centers—ideal for brightening patio pots or any garden setting.A close-up of a pink Dahlia Early Bird Mix flower from Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden, surrounded by green foliage. RHS Plants for Pollinators logo with a bee appears bottom right. Ideal for patio pots or garden beds.Dahlia Early Bird Mix by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden features pale yellow early flowering dahlias with orange stamens, ideal for growing from seeds in patio pots against lush green leaves and soft soil backdrops.Two vibrant pink dahlias from the Dahlia Early Bird Mix by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden bloom among lush foliage—one in sharp focus, the other softly blurred—perfect for brightening patio pots.Two vibrant pink dahlias with yellow centers from the Dahlia Early Bird Mix by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden are surrounded by green leaves and small flowers, adding brilliant color to patio pots and any outdoor space. Grown easily from seed.The Dahlia Early Bird Mix by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden features vibrant pink blooms among green leaves and white daisies, highlighting the beauty of early-flowering dahlias ideal for patio pots.A close-up of Dahlia Early Bird Mix by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden—pale yellow, early-blooming flowers with delicate petals and golden centers, among green leaves—ideal for brightening patio pots.The Dahlia Early Bird Mix from Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden features the RHS Plants for Pollinators yellow circular bee logo—ideal for highlighting dahlia seeds perfect for patio pots and early-season blooms.A white flower with a yellow center blooms among green leaves as a bee hovers nearby—Dahlia Early Bird Mix from Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden is ideal for patio pots, perfect for growing early dahlias from seed.Two pale yellow Dahlias with yellow centers from Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden's Dahlia Early Bird Mix bloom amid green leaves, with a nearby bud. Lush foliage makes them ideal for patio pots when grown from Dahlia seeds.
Annual Pollinator

Dahlia Early Bird Mix

Dahlia variabilis 'Early Bird Mix' — compact early-flowering dwarf strain

£2.30approx. 40 seeds

A vibrant dwarf dahlia mix bred for early flowering — semi-double flowers in red, violet, yellow and orange on compact 50–60cm self-supporting plants. Pollinator-friendly.

Sowing months
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Height
50–60cm
Spread
40cm
Spacing
30cm
Position
Full sun
Soil
Rich, well-draining, fertile soil with a slightly acidic to neutral pH
Grow guide
How to grow Dahlia Early Bird Mix
Read the full guide →
About this variety

A dwarf dahlia bred for speed. Ten to twelve weeks from sowing to the first flower, against twelve to fourteen for most, which in practice means colour in late June when other dahlias are still building.

At 50 to 60cm the plants are bushy and self-supporting, so there is no staking and no tying in. That makes them the practical choice for a patio pot, a window box or the front of a border, where a 120cm dahlia would be a nuisance. The mix gives semi-double and double flowers in red, violet, yellow, orange and bronze.

Two things to weigh. The stems are short, so this is not a cutting variety; you can float a head in a bowl but you will not make a bouquet from it. And a dwarf bushy dahlia in a wet season holds moisture around its centre, so keep the spent flowers picked off or the middle of the plant goes mouldy. The open-centred flowers in the mix are useful to bees, which the tight ball and cactus types are not. Tubers can be lifted and stored, though most people treat these as an annual.

Plant alongside

Dahlia Early Bird Mix pairs beautifully with these cottage garden classics

Calendula Oopsy Daisy
Calendula Oopsy Daisy
£2.30
Cornflower Polka Dot Mixed
Cornflower Polka Dot Mixed
£2.30
Didiscus Blue Lace
Didiscus Blue Lace
£2.50

RHS Plants for Pollinators

This plant has been assessed by the Royal Horticultural Society and recommended as especially beneficial to bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Growing plants like this directly supports UK pollinator populations — something close to our hearts at Salle Moor Hall Farm, where we see the difference a cottage garden full of the right plants can make.

Learn more at RHS.org.uk →