xviii INTRODUCTION 



can Dahlia Society for a man whose nobihty 

 and sweetness of character were only equalled 

 by his knowledge of all that is best in garden- 

 ing. These dahlias were among others at an 

 Annual Dahlia Show of the Short Hills Garden 

 Club — that show which has won for itself every- 

 where a name for keen intelligence and pic- 

 turesque beauty. 



Of all late-blooming perennial flowers, where 

 is there any to surpass the dahlia? Where is 

 there a more majestic habit, a finer foliage in 

 colour and form, or a more glorious range of colour 

 in the flowers themselves ? Dahlias have colours 

 given by no other perennial flowers, and this 

 colour is at its finest when that of most hardy 

 flowers has vanished. A trial of dahhas for 

 decorative effect in the garden is taking place 

 this summer at the gardens of the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society at Wisley; here the plan is not 

 to disbud or thin, but to allow the plants to grow 

 naturally. 



The chapters of this book, based as they are on 

 sound knowledge, spiced with humour, fortified 

 by experience and by experiment — a totally dif- 

 ferent thing — will, I am convinced, do much for 

 the progress of dahlia growing and hybridizing. 

 But the general impression of Mrs. Stout's 

 writing is this : it is not only a cup of knowledge 



