History of the Dahlia and Its Culture 



By W. Seville, A. R. H. S., Bergenfield, N. J. 



This interesting genus is not a large one as far as 

 wild plants go, and every species is a native of Mexico. 

 Although it is universally grown and has become so 

 great a favorite, the history of its introduction is very 

 obscure. Lady Holland is generally credited with hav- 

 ing introduced it into England in 1804, but it was 

 brought from Madrid at that time by Lady Holland, 

 who apparently did not know that it was already in 

 that country. The first dahlia known to Europeans 

 was discovered in Mexico by Baron Humboldt in 1789 

 and sent by him to Professor Cavanilles, of the Botan- 

 ical Garden, Madrid, who gave the genus the name of 

 dahlia, in honor of the celebrated Swedish botanist, 

 Andrew Dahl. Cavanilles sent a plant to England 

 the same year, to the Marchioness of Bute — a great 

 lover of flowers — it was grown in the greenhouse and 

 flowered freely, arousing great interest in the genus. 

 From this species (variabilis) nearly all the varieties 

 known in gardens have been raised. 



The dahlia shows the skill of the florist more plain- 

 ly than almost any other genus in cultivation. 



The touch of color that was once the only claim to 

 beauty of the dahlia that grew in the farmer's yard — • 

 with its hard, stifif and ungraceful flowers — has been 

 developed until there are few of the cultivated plants 

 that rival their range of brilliant shadings. Even the 

 Queen of the Autumn is without the vivid scarlet and 

 red tones belonging to the dahlia, and one cannot help 

 admiring its many iuies of color as well as its immense 

 blooms. There is no plant that is more generous in its 

 acknowledgment for only slight attention, be it grown 

 by amateur or professional. 



When well placed in the garden the dahlia is superb, 

 its profusion of bloom creating fine masses of color in 

 the late summer and autumn months, especially when 

 the best forms of the peony and cactus sections are 

 vised. Distinct beds of dahlias present a fine aspect if 

 the colors are well contrasted, and many otherwise 

 good eflfects are spoiled by mixing up tall and dwarf 

 bushy kinds indiscriminately. A mass of one color 

 looks well, especially if backed up by dark-leaved 

 shrubs, while distinct beds are a welcome feature in 

 the flower garden, being gay far into the autumn when 

 the weather is not frosty. 



CULTURE. — To get good results it is essential to 

 have rich, deep and moist soil, preferably ground that 

 has been heavily manured for a previous crop. If the 

 ground is poor it must be deeply dug and decaj'ed 

 stable manure incorporated freely. Select a well- 

 drained position that will receive the full benefit of the 

 sun, plant out strong tubers or green plants as early as 

 may be safe ; if frost is feared protect the plants by 

 placing an inverted plant pot over them. 



When dormant tubers are planted rcmo\-e all but 

 two of the strongest shoots as soon as they appear. If 

 green plants are used — and these are used in prefer- 

 ence to tubers by many expert growers of exhibition 

 blooms — pinch out the center of the shoot when the 

 plants have made four or five joipts to induce branch- 

 ing. Staking and tying the shoots must be attended to 

 as soon as possible as the stems are brittle and break 

 under little wind pressure. The plants must never 

 be allowed to become checked or stunted in growth if 

 flowers are to be freely produced ; mulch the ground 

 with long strawy manure, or some loose material that 

 will keep the soil cool, »nd during dry spells the plant 

 should lie thorou^hh- watered. 



The flowers should invariably be cut in the early 

 morning when the dew is on them. They will then re- 

 tain their beauty and freshness for a longer period 

 than flowers taken from the same plant at a later hour. 

 This remark applies to all flowers, but applies with 

 special force to the dahlia. 



INCREASE. — Dahlias may be propagated by cut- 

 tings, root division and seed, the last being used where 

 new varieties are sought. Cuttings are the best means 

 of propagating dahlias, though division of the roots 

 is usually practiced. If the clumps are started in a 

 mixture of leaf mould and sand in February or March 

 in a temperature of 60° to 70° F. each crown will pro- 

 duce three or four cuttings every few days. These 

 may be taken oft' as early as March, close to the crown, 

 without, however, injuring it, as others will come up 

 at the base of those removed. The cuttings should 

 not be too long before being taken from the tubers, or 

 they will wilt badly. The cuttings may be rooted 

 singly in small pots, plunged over a brisk bottom heat, 

 or in the cutting bench ; they will root in about two 

 weeks and should be hardened off gradually until 

 planted out in May. To raise seedlings sow the seed 

 in February and treat the young plants in the same 

 way as cuttings. 



WINTERING. — As long as the weather keeps mild 

 dahlia roots are best in the soil, but should sharp frosts 

 occur, followed by heav}- rains, they should be prompt- 

 ly removed from the ground. Lift the roots on a dry 

 day, cutting the stems to within a few inches of the 

 crown. Remove the greater portion of the soil from 

 the tubers and lay the latter out in the sun to dry be- 

 fore storing. The floor of a greenhouse where they 

 will be free from drip, or a dr)'^ cellar, where the frost 

 can be excluded are good places to store the tubers in. 

 A little ventilation is necessary to keep them from get- 

 tiny mouldy, but a hot, dry atmosphere must be 

 avoided, as the tubers would shrivel in it ; they must 

 be kept plump during the winter when they are re- 

 quired to give early cuttings. The tubers of some 

 sorts are more difficult of preservation than others, 

 and choice varieties are frequently bad keepers. 



CACTUS DAHLIAS.— These originated from 

 Dahlia Juarezi, and they retain the characteristic shape 

 of that species, having twisted petals. The true cactus 

 is a great advance on the old show and fancy dahlias 

 and does not have the fault of being stift' and artificial 

 looking like these large and perfectly symmetrical flow- 

 ers. The earlier cactus dahlias had one fault — hiding 

 the flowers among the leaves, but this is to a large 

 extent changed. The improvement has been wonder- 

 ful and rapid, so that we now have a beautiful race 

 of garden plants for summer and autumn, with long 

 twisted petals of the most beautiful colors (many of 

 them blending one color into another in the most ex- 

 quisite manner), of longer cutting stems and better 

 petaled blooms, with less inclination to come false 

 centered. The new varieties are exceptional and are 

 divided into two sections, exhibition and garden. In 

 the former are some magnificent flowers which will go 

 far to insure success to those able to exhibit them in 

 competition. In the garden section, the advance dur- 

 ing the last few years is very marked, the present vari- 

 eties having a grand habit of growth and were a perfect 

 picture when growing in the trials here last year. 



