Pinky Promise
a Restoring Eden original dahlia
releasing in 2026
Pinky Promise Stats
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As a Formal Decorative, Pinky Promise shows solid symmetry and full petal coverage. Neat, layered petals create a classic, “finished” silhouette—photogenic from every angle and wonderfully cooperative in arrangements.
During particular parts of the season, the bloom can show a green center, especially among it’s early blooms, but it still holds a strong place in the garden and in floral work. -
Classified as a dark pink, Pinky Promise is a more classic carnation pink that sometimes strays slightly lighter or darker depending on the growing zone.
Each bloom glows with a cool-toned shade without turning lavender, and romantic without going entirely pastel. It plays beautifully with plums, corals, and creamy neutrals, anchoring palettes with confident warmth and subtle sweetness.
ADS Color Classification: Dark Pink (DP-19). -
Each bloom averages around 4 inches in diameter.
Pinky Promise is that just-right scale: substantial enough to anchor a bouquet, compact enough to mix generously. The uniform head size keeps recipes balanced for designers and home florists alike. -
Standing between 4 - 5 feet tall, Pinky Promise plants carry blooms on strong, upright stems. The tidy habit with abundant branching and cut-worthy stems makes it as dependable in the garden as it is delightful in the vase.
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Coty Sloan
Restoring Eden Flowers, Michigan
The Story
This dahlia first adorned Restoring Eden in 2022. Elegant and assured, Pinky Promise delivered soundly composed formal decorative blooms in a saturated dark pink that reads rich and romantic in every light. How it got its name is another story entirely.
There was a woman who lived half a world away from her mother. During a visit to see her, her mother had a gift card to a local jewelry shop and wanted her daughter to purchase something nice for herself. So one afternoon, the daughter went into the shop and looked through the glass cases, and tried on a few pieces. Alas, nothing spoke to her.
But, just upon leaving, she looked up at the wall and saw a cuckoo clock that reminded her of one that she had seen, but never purchased, while visiting Germany. The clerk confirmed that it was an authentic German-made cuckoo clock and proceeded to take it down from its perch. She showed her the sounds that it made, and the bird that came out to greet you, every hour. And so, she decided to purchase it.
Upon returning to her parents' home, she walked in and showed her mother the clock, and her mother gushed, saying, "I have always wanted a cuckoo clock. I love them so.” And the daughter, knowing she hadn't even spent half of what was on the gift card, and that her visit home was coming to a close, happened upon a fleeting and kind-hearted thought. “She should go and get one for herself!” And so she presented the idea to her mother, "If you get the same clock, then when our clocks play on the hour, we can know from halfway around the world, that our thoughts are on each other."
Knowing her mom might be resistant to spending the money on herself, she hooked onto her mother's hand, locked her pinky with her mothers’, and said, “Repeat after me.”
"I promise." She waited, "I promise, her mother said. "To go and buy the cuckoo clock." "To go and buy the cuckoo clock." And so her mother did. And every time she hears the bird come out, she thinks of her daughter with fondness, longing, and with a beautiful memory of a simple yet honored pinky promise.
