202 The Amateur's Book of the Dahlia 



with her colours, but many plain reds are to be 

 found on her plants, while plain yellows never. 



Orange variegated with red reverts to a plain 

 orange most of the time. Pierrot, so charming 

 when true, is a flagrant sinner in this direction, 

 also disliking to show its white finger tips. 



It is easy enough to breed a yellow dahlia if one 

 is not particular as to the shade of yellow. Both 

 the wild dahlias and the hybrids have a strong 

 tendency toward the sulphur yellow some- 

 times even with a greenish tinge. The pure gold 

 in a dahlia is almost as rare as the pure gold in 

 the earth; though once it is there it is there to 

 stay. 



I remember many years ago I exhibited at the 

 Short Hills Show three enormous yellow blooms 

 from tubers sent to me by a friend in Wiltshire, 

 England. They were some of the first of the 

 English incurved cactus types of a pale sulphur 

 yellow with drooping tired heads, and were 

 distinctly labelled with their correct name, Glory 

 of Wilts. They were very unusual then, and I 

 was very proud of them until I heard a visitor 

 remark: "Well, I guess they named that one 

 right!" Those drooping heads were never seen 

 in my garden again. 



Yellows overlaid with pink usually have a 

 soft iridescence and warmth of tone. Without 



