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Chrysanthemum vs Dahlia: who owns the fall porch?

Flower duel

V Written by Editorial TeamEdited by Vladimir

Chrysanthemum takes 4 of the 5 verdicts below to 0, and every line of it can be recomputed from the open table. The full picture, including when the honest answer is a third flower, is below.

The dinnerplate diva against the hardware-store mum. Frost dates and vase life split them cleanly.

Chrysanthemum, photographed at the same scale as Dahlia
Chrysanthemum
Dahlia, photographed at the same scale as Chrysanthemum
Dahlia
vs

Shot to one scale: bloom beside bloom, from our own library.

Where each one wins

The verdicts, line by line

Every line below is a field of the open table, not an opinion.

The vaseChrysanthemumChrysanthemum holds 16 days in plain water and can reach 18 in published trials; dahlia starts dropping at 4.
The budgetChrysanthemumChrysanthemum wholesales around $1.30 to $1.35 a stem against $1.60 to $5, on typical trade prices rather than a quote: the same look for less.
Cold wintersChrysanthemumChrysanthemum overwinters to zone 5; dahlia gives up below zone 7.
The upkeepChrysanthemumextension guides rate chrysanthemum medium maintenance; dahlia sits at high.
When they bloomIt dependsdifferent jobs, not rivals: chrysanthemum owns Sep to Nov, dahlia picks up in Jul to Sep.
Petunia
Neither, if a cat lives in your house. Both sit on the ASPCA toxic list for cats. Petunia is listed non-toxic and tops the cat-safe ranking at 90/100.

In the vase

In plain water the gap is not taste, it is arithmetic: chrysanthemum holds 16 to 18 days while dahlia manages 4 to 5. Money settles the rest of the argument: chrysanthemum wholesales around $1.30 to $1.35 a stem against $1.60 to $5, roughly double for the same job. Those are typical trade prices, not a quote: what a florist charges you moves with the season and the region. Out of water, for a boutonniere or an arch, the one that survives the afternoon is chrysanthemum.

In the garden

Both come back, but not everywhere: chrysanthemum shrugs off zone 5 winters while dahlia taps out below zone 7. On upkeep the table sides with chrysanthemum: rated medium maintenance against high.

Side by side

The full card

A line is marked only where one flower clearly leads. Equal or too-close values are left plain.

FieldChrysanthemumDahlia
Vase life, days16 to 184 to 5
Wholesale, per stem$1.30 to $1.35$1.60 to $5
FragranceFragrant foliage and flowers, no graduating descriptor usednot recorded
LightFull sun, tolerates part shadeFull sun to part shade
WaterMedium, consistent moisture especially in bloomMedium
Hardiness zones5 to 97 to 10.5
Bloom months3 months3 months
Deer (Rutgers)Occasionally severely damaged (Rutgers C)Occasionally severely damaged (Rutgers C)
Cats (ASPCA)ToxicToxic
Out of waterGoodPoor
How we rank

We keep one table of 85 flowers, with 25 documented facts each, drawn from university and extension sources. Every ranking is a published formula worth 100 points; tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made it. A flower that does not fit a job is not scored lower: it is excluded, and the reason is shown. When the table changes, every score and stamp updates itself. The full method ↗

Read the full profile

Everything the table holds on each of them, in plain prose.

Chrysanthemum in full ↗ Dahlia in full ↗ All duels and nominations The table behind this page