DAHLIAS 



109 



at night. How nicely this explains why our varieties bloom best in 

 the cooler days of Autumn. 



It was at the end of the eighteenth century before the Dahlia 

 reached Europe and soon after three varieties were known. Soon 

 doubles were produced. The flat ones were first very popular; then 

 the ball-shaped blossoms of the show type were greatly in evidence. 

 Between 1830 and 1860 the interest in Dahhas became intense, and 

 great premiums were paid for good varieties. Then in 1870 fol- 

 lowed varieties which were flat- 

 ter, less formal and dehcately 

 colored . In 1 8 7 2 a new species, 

 Dahlia Jaurezii, was intro- 

 duced. This is the progenitor of 

 the Cactus Dahlias, a type uni- 

 versafly admired at present be- 

 cause of its graceful form and 

 delicate coloring. The Cactus 

 types are combined with the 

 singles to produce the Peony- 

 flowered forms from which 

 have been eliminated the weak 

 stems, resulting in an exalted 

 form, and well-shaped blooms 

 of matchless colors borne upon 

 wonderfully strong plants. The 

 large-flowered singles are hav- 

 ing a great wave of popularity 

 now, for they are often beauti- 

 fully colored. In 1899 there 

 was a pretty type produced in 

 France in which there is a row 

 of smaller and much more slen- 

 der petals, of a difl'erent color, 

 surrounding the central disk of 

 an otherwise single flower. This 

 type has been termed the Col- 

 larette Dahlia. 



Duplex Form of Dahlia - 



The Dahlia is essentially the poor man's 



flower and most nobly does it respond, in 



its innumerable types, to its really trivial 



needs 



Cultivation 



The Dahlia is typicaUy FaU blooming and succeeds in any location 

 where kilhng frosts do not come too early. If the plants are not serious- 

 ly checked in their growth by frosts, they will usuaUy bloom very nicely 



