THE NEW CACTUS DAHLIAS. 



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THE NEW CACTUS DAHLIAS 

 ON THEIR MERITS. 



For those who aim at garden beauty the show 

 is no test of merit, as throwing no light upon 

 many points of importance in border plants. 

 The most useful Dahlias for the garden are of 

 dwarf habit, with stout foliage and short joints, 

 for without this no amount of staking and 

 tying will keep them tidy when rough winds 

 begin. At the same time the flower-stems must 

 be long and rigid, for if short the blooms are 

 hidden and bad when cut; if long without stiff- 

 ness, the flower-heads hang forward and down- 

 wards so that their beauty is equally concealed. 

 Further, they must be free and early in bloom, 

 of clear decided colours, and with petals of suf- 

 ficient substance to stand bad weather and to 

 last when cut. Perfection is uncommon even 

 among plants, so that it is rare to find Dahlias 

 combining all these merits, and too many of 

 the new kinds are sadly deficient. Taken all 

 in all, there are probably none betterfor border 

 work than some of theold kindsnowdiscarded, 

 for though their centres were not all perfect, 

 and they showed less refinement of form than 

 the newer type, yet for display in the autumn 

 border, and for cutting, nothing grown to-day 

 is better. But this is beside the point ; the new 

 forms have come and bid fair to stay awhile, 

 and some of those now grown are really beau- 

 tiful, so that we need not grudge them a wel- 

 come. None the less it is well when choosing 

 new kinds to get those good in the border, and 

 it is this point of garden value which is often 

 lackingand cannot be seen at a show. We have, 

 therefore, made notes of the new kinds grown 

 in the trial borders at Chiswick, with regard 

 to their merits for effect. For ease of reference 

 they are roughly classified according to colour. 



White Flowers. — The white Dahlia is 

 always in request for cutting, so that a good 

 new white is sure of a fair trial ; amongst these 

 Winsome is really fine, borne on a plant of good 

 habit and foliage, with the large blooms well 

 shown and with that suspicion of green in the 

 incurved pedals which seems to enhance the 

 beauty of a good white flower ; many good 

 blooms have been shown, but the flowers are 

 rather large for cutting, and at Chiswick some 

 of the centres seemed faulty. Lord Roberts is 

 of another form, free, and if small for the show 



is of a better size for decoration ; its fault is 

 that though the stalks are long the flowers tilt 

 forwards and down, which spoils it for the bor- 

 der. Spotless Queen is a similar flower with the 

 blooms held more erect, but they are shorter in 

 stalk and less good for vases. CheaPs White is 

 a plant of finest habit, dwarf and robust, with 

 ivory-white flowers, but it seemed a little late, 

 and the flowers have too much of the forward 

 tilt. Peace is not at all a show flower, but for 

 the garden is as good as any, with many flowers, 

 which are well displayed on long stiff stems. 

 Purity, which claims to be the best white Cac- 

 tus, was not in the collection ; its flowers are 

 faintly tinged with yellow. 



Yellow and Orange Flowers. — Why it 

 is that yellows are so often badly carried is not 

 easy to explain, but the fact remains that these 

 more than any show this fault, so that though 

 there are fine flowers, good plants are scarce ; 

 the best border yellow at Chiswick was appa- 

 rently an unnamed seedling. Prince of Yellows 

 is a clear bright colour with a massive broad- 

 petalled flower, but its habit is too scanty for a 

 border plant. In form of flower Mrs. E. Maw- 

 ley is an easy first, of a clear pale yellow, large, 

 with narrow petals which are slightly incurved ; 

 as a vase or basket flower it has been well shown 

 spite of its size. Primrose is a light yellow kind 

 of good habit and foliage, the flower of large 

 size, well carried on long stalks ; Canary hides 

 its blooms too much and has a poor habit. 

 Miss A. F. Perkins is a distinct variety of the 

 parti-coloured class, being pale yellow with 

 white tips ; it would seem a little late, for at 

 Chiswick it was not in bloom and its growth 

 tall and scanty. Honeysuckle is also distinct, but 

 apart from this is not good in the border, its 

 blend of amber half-tones being too undecided 

 for effect. Several other yellows have colours 

 inclining to orange or salmon-red, the most 

 noticeable of these being Florence, conspicuous 

 for its large flowers shaded orange, coming 

 freely, but too pendant ; Mrs. Clinton, one of 

 Mortimer's novelties, with blooms of blending 

 orange-yellow and salmon, large and free, but 

 with a poor habit of growth ; Mrs. de Luca is 

 rather tall, with dark foliage in contrast to its 

 blending shades of orange and yellow. How- 

 ever beautiful these changing shades may be 

 near at hand, it is only one here and there that 

 looks well at a distance. 



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