The Dahlia, Past and Present 
A paper 631 W. W. Wilmore, Read Before the Colorado Society of Floriculturists at 
Den'uer, March -24, 1905. 
History of the Dahlia 
"This most useful and popular flower, the 
dahlia, derives its name from the Swedish 
botanist, Dr. Dahl, but for a time was also 
knowij under the name of georgina, after 
Prof. George, of St. Petersburg. 
Its earliest known history is not yet very 
old. About the year 1G57 Francisco Hernan- 
dez, a Spanish physician, wrote a boqk on 
plants, and among the plants described he 
mentions Dahlia variabilis, the species from 
which most, if not all, of our present var- 
ieties have originated. At that time it is 
probable that it was only known as one of 
the great multitude of botanical plants, with- 
out much, if any, thought of its future use- 
fulness, for we find nothing further in print 
for 130 years. It is quite probable, however, 
that some effort was made to improve and 
domesticate the plant toward the close of 
the eighteenth century, for in 1787 a French- 
man published an account of the dahlias he 
had seen growing in gardens in Mexico. 
Two years later, 1789, seeds were sent from 
the Botanic Gardens of Mexico to the Royal 
Gardens at Madrid, Spain, where it was 
given its present name. This lot of seed- 
lings was lost two years later, as were 
several other lots sent to various places. But 
their stay, though brief, awakened a deep 
interest in the plant and its possibilities, 
and further attempts at its cultivation were 
now made in several European countries and 
it soon bec;anfe quite popular. The work be- 
stowed upon it, howeverj seems to have 
been more in the nature of a fad rather 
than intelligent study. Difficulty seems to 
have been encountered also in knowing how 
to keep the roots over to the next season. 
It should be borne in mind that up to 
this time all the varieties were single, the 
variegated and striped varieties leading in 
popular favor. 
The history of the first double forms is 
told as follows: M. Donkelaar, of Louvian, 
began a series of experiments with northern- 
grown seed in 1812. His first crop of seed- 
lings was siill quite single, but seed saved 
from these gave him some semi-double flow- 
ers in 1813. and seed saved from these again 
gave fully double ftowers in 1814, the third 
generation of the northern-grown seed. These 
varieties continued to produce double flowers 
and the dahlia now became immensely popu- 
lar. 
The question naturally arises here: Why 
should northern-grown seed produce double 
flowers? A theory gives this answer: Na- 
ture, always alert to perpetuate itself, throws 
out extra petals to protect the tender seeds 
from the chill of the northern atmosphere. 
He this true or not, certain it is that double 
varieties show a decided tendency in warm 
climates to become serai-double and single 
varieties in the north are hard to keep in 
true form. 
The dahlia possesses a happy, easy-going 
disposition and seems to be at home in al- 
most every country, location and soil. I 
have customers variously situated from a 
few feet above sea level to an altitude of 
8,500 leet, some on clear sand, some on loam 
and some on the heaviest of clay; yet all 
give flattering reports of success. But for 
convenience in cultivation and digging, a 
light soil is preferable. I might also say 
that the dahlia is a favorite among all 
people of all countries, and I know of no 
reason why it should not be. Its easy cul- 
ture, varied forms, almost boundless range 
of color and the wealth of bloom at a sea- 
son wnen most needed, should appeal strong- 
ly to botn amateur and professional. 
The dahlia, if proi^erly treated, will begin 
to bloom in this latitude in about seventy- 
five days from date of planting dormant 
tubers. They may be had much earlier, of 
course, if started under glass, but if this 
method is employed, great care should be 
exercised to keep the plants free from red 
spider, as it is almost impossible to rid 
the plants of them when once infested. I 
have always preferred planting direct to the 
open ground, and usually count on two and 
one-halt to three months of bloom, which 
is ample to repay all labor and space given. 
As this audience is not one of amateurs 
it will not be necessary for me to go into 
details of cultivation, manure, water, etc., 
further than to say that dahlias may be 
grown much closer than generally practiced; 
that they require less manure than generally 
supposed; that they will stand a great deal 
more cultivation than generally given, and 
should be watered as often as they need it, 
and not otherwise. 
As to varieties for florists' use, I would 
say that a few varieties are preferable to 
many, and these should be clear, bright, 
self-colored flowers, though not necessarily 
deep colors; but should be selected to con- 
form to the popular color tastes of the day. 
I would say that six to eight good varieties 
would meet the requirements nf live cut 
flower trade, say red, scarlet, yellow, two 
shades of pink, and two white, one large and 
one small for design work. The latter need 
not have a long stem,, but the others should 
have stems from twelve to eighteen inches 
in length, and as much longer as they may 
be had. 
But it should not be forgotten that the 
dahlia has other uses beside the funeral 
wreath and the house decoration. The park, 
cemetery and private grounds consume an 
immense number, far greater than does the 
cut flower trade. Here the lines as to color 
