By Thorneyside
Berkshire,
United Kingdom 
Why are my Dahlia cuttings different from the parent?
I thought a cutting was a clone of the plant but last year in spring I took cuttings from my 'Mom's Special' which is supposed to be dinnerplate size. More like small saucer! Anyway, both the cuttings have flowers which are totally different from the parent (in 1st photo). I have one more to flower but assume it will be the same as the others. Why is that?
27 Jul, 2020
Answers
No Sbg, the original flowers in the first pic is what they are. Second and third are cuttings and one more to come. Easy to spot as the leaves are different from my other Dahlias.
29 Jul, 2020
Previous question
mmh that is odd, they should be genetically identical as you say.
Is there much pattern variation on the original plant? as they seem to have the same base colour [purply/pink] I wonder if they will be better next year when they have made a tuber. Often with these relatively genetically unstable varieties you will get reversion back to one of the original parents.
27 Jul, 2020