Plate 125. 
POMPON DAHLIAS. 
Dahlia superjlua , var. 
Under the title of Pompon or Lilliputian Dahlias, there 
have been lately introduced to our gardens some varieties of 
this popular flower, which bid fair to be a great ornament, and 
very useful for cutting for bouquets, a purpose for which the 
ordinary kinds of Dahlias are, from their large size, unfitted. 
The Royal Horticultural Society, considering them worthy of 
cultivation, offered special prizes for them, grown in pots, a 
purpose for which we believe them to be quite unsuitable; a 
collection of cut blooms of the best varieties in cultivation was 
however shown by Mr. John Cattell, of Westerham; and from 
them those which we now figure were selected for illustration. 
The following notes, supplied to us by Mr. Heale, the intel¬ 
ligent foreman of Mr. Cattell, will be found interesting:—“Lilli¬ 
putian Dahlias, like fancy Pelargoniums, seem to have sprung 
up suddenly and without any precise data, as to where they 
originated, although I imagine they owe their origin to the 
German florists, for it is from them at present we get our new 
varieties. They are of easy culture, requiring light rich soil; 
this makes the flower more double; but I do not find that rich¬ 
ness of soil, or rank growth, affect the size of the flower to any 
perceptible degree. The only objection to them is their tall 
habit of growth,* many of the varieties reaching four or five 
feet, and some even six feet, making them quite out of place in 
the flower-garden, unless pegged down; the flowers, like all 
Dahlias, are produced in the greatest profusion. The only 
variety adapted for bedding is a beautiful white, named Pearl , 
although this is almost too large a flower to be classed as a 
Lilliputian; this variety is of very dwarf habit, not growing 
* It is for this reason we believe them to be unsuitable for pot culture. 
