154 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS 



Willdenow called it Georgina, in honour of Professor 

 Georgi, a Russian botanist. 



The danger of confusing Dahlia and Dalea was found 

 to be more apparent than real, inasmuch as the latter 

 was an entirely insignificant genus. The name Dahlia 

 was therefore kept in England. Ninety-nine persons out 

 of a hundred pronounce it Daylia, and the hundredth 

 (who is really a pedant under the guise of a purist) calls 

 it Zte^-lia. 



We have to accept the Dahlia as an entirely modern 

 flower. It gives us no excuse to hasten to our book- 

 shelves and spend happy half-hours over the familiar 

 but ever-delightful passages of our favourite writers. 

 There is no Perdita to thrill us with exquisite lines. 

 Poets have not sung of the Dahlia as they have of the 

 Daffodil, the Lily, and the Rose. Its only literature is 

 the literature of the florists, and that is frigidly exact 

 a brief statement of the " points " of a perfect flower, 

 and a bald description of the system of culture. The 

 only illustration of imaginative treatment is in the trade 

 catalogues, where the new varieties are described in 

 tempting language. 



Without a history, without literary associations, 

 without an artistic following, the Dahlia has to satisfy 

 us with whatever it possesses of intrinsic excellence or 

 promise as a garden and exhibition flower. When we 

 have improved it sufficiently to satisfy ourselves, we 

 must make our own literature about it, and so commend 

 it doubly to posterity. 



There are very few species of Dahlias, and such as 

 there are have only the interest of parentage. Of no 

 garden value in themselves, we still keep up acquaintance 

 with them out of respect for the good they have done 

 in fathering and mothering modern varieties. The three 



