THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, May 4, 1858, 69 
DWARF DAHLIAS FOR BEDS AND 
BORDERS; 
So many inquiries as to tlie minutise of management, 
and complaints of want of success, from those who 
have not succeeded with Dahlias so well as they would 
wish, have induced me to devote these notes to their 
consideration, and for detailing every little matter 
that, with me, has contributed to such success, that 
many of them have been masses of bloom from July 
to the end of the season. 
Estimate oe Soets.— The kinds used by me are 
still limited in number. I have helped many to those 
I have got, and have received, as yet, little but pro¬ 
mises of other dwarf varieties in return. A hint to 
the wise should be sufficient. It would be a great 
pity if the channels of friendly interchange should 
ever be dried up. There is such a pleasure in being 
able to give, that I believe any want of reciprocity 
arises, in these go-a-head days, from want of time and 
opportunity. Allow me to give a piece of sound ad¬ 
vice, in the shape of a maxim, to all borrowing gar¬ 
deners, “ Take what you can get or want with you, 
but seldom or never ask a gardener to send you what 
you want.” The time and the material are little 
missed in the one case ; they often constitute serious 
items of consideration in the other. 
The Purple Zelinda, notwithstanding its poor, 
pointed - petalled flower, is still deservedly a great 
favourite, and is about the earliest, and the easiest to 
manage. Height from fifteen to twenty-four inches, 
according to soil and treatment. The width of the plant 
is often considerably more. I have had rows, thirty 
inches across, a dense mass of purple, with just a small 
green leaf peeping out, here and there, as a relief to 
the mass of colour. 
White Zelinda , sent out by Mr. Fleming, of Trent- 
ham. Some people say it is an old variety ; but what 
of that? Whoever heard of it before Mr. Fleming 
brought it into notice P He never said he raised it. 
It is much the same height as Zelinda purple, but 
quite different in habit. The flowers rise in long, 
strong footstalks, standing boldly free of the foliage. 
The flowers are good, medium-sized, and the white 
sometimes tipped prettily with lilac. This is a most 
desirable variety. 
Scarlet Zelinda, Crystal Palace Scarlet, and other 
aliases; this is more upright in growth than purple 
Zelinda; height averaging thirty inches ; flowers small, 
but plentifully produced, standing clear of the foliage. 
Mrs. Labouchere, buff and white, free blooming, 
flowers small; average height, thirty inches. 
Prince Arthur, raised, I believe, by Mr. Gaines, of 
Battersea. A fine-formed, good-sized, rich .griinson 
flower, standing erect and strong, free of the foliage, 
which is a very dark green; average height, twenty 
inches ; flowers generally a fortnight or so later than 
purple Zelinda. Habit of the plant dense and com¬ 
pact ; should be planted pretty thickly to produce a 
fine effect. This, taken altogether, is the king of all 
the dwarf Dahlias I have seen; but, for earliness and 
massiveness in effect, as mere colour, it will not equal 
purple Zelinda. 
Gaines's Dwarf a lighter crimson than Prince Ar¬ 
thur, more sprawling, and exceedingly leafy in growth, 
and the flower very poor in comparison. 
Miss Weyland, a beautiful old fancy flow r er, bronzy 
orange and white; height of plant from fifteen to 
twenty inches, very compact in growth, and very de¬ 
sirable. 
Silver Florin, a beautiful white flower, very like 
Antagonist; average height of plant, twenty inches. 
Individual flower better, in my opinion, than even 
white Zelinda, but far inferior to that in habit; the 
flowers of Zelinda standing out strong and well above 
the foliage, whilst the long footstalks of the Florin are 
so weak that the flower droops, and does not show well, 
In a fine bed, I have had to send a boy, at times, to 
turn the flowers up, and let them rest on the foliage', !. 
and then they looked well. Plants with the habit of 
white Zelinda will thru adrift all these drooping 
flowers. There are several other kinds, but I have 
not yet proved them. 
I will now detail the minutiae of management. 
Peopagation. —With respect to kinds of which I am 
short, I generally put the tubers in heat at the begin¬ 
ning of March, and take off the cuttings as they come, 
and strike them in a mild bottom heat, potting off when 
struck, and hardening off before planting-out time. In 
the case of all those, where I have a fair portion of 
roots, I merely move the roots into a little heat at the 
end of March, or the first week in April. Generally 
they are placed on the floor of a vinery, or Peach house, 
at work, and in about a fortnight the young shoots will 
begin to come. The purple Zelinda will generally 
grow first; it throw r s out shoots very freely, and, if 
many are wanted, these shoots will root as cuttings in 
the third of the time that those o £ Prince Arthur will do. 
Many people prefer plants thus raised from cuttings, 
but i never found them do better than those plants 
procured with less trouble, by merely dividing the 
roots, so that each shoot should be supplied with a 
piece of the old root at its base. Where such a piece 
cannot be obtained to a shoot, of course the shoot may j 
be struck as a cutting. I prefer dividing them when j 
the shoots are about three inches long, rather shorter j 
than longer. Many buds will just be coming when j 
some of the shoots are that length ; and, therefore, the 
roots after the dividing are packed nicely together, 
watered, and sprinkled with a little rich soil, so as to 
permit of a second or third dividing. 
These shoots, with a little of the tuber at their base, 
may be potted separately, placed in a slight hotbed, 
and shaded from the sun until growing freely. I 
generally place them, at first, in the shady part of such 
a house as they have been excited in. I seldom use 
pots for this purpose, or for a tithe of the plants I use 
for bedding purposes. I have previously described 
rough cutting-boxes, say six inches wide, three inches 
deep, and what convenient length you please ; a layer 
of roughish, rich soil is placed over the bottom of such 
boxes, the shoots, with the pieces of tuber attached, are 
placed regularly over the box, from one inch and a half 
to two inches apart, and the box is filled with light rich 
soil, and watered. If taken off very late, the plants 
remain in these boxes until planting time, but are put 
thinner. Those taken off before the middle of April, 
are generally transplanted about the end of the month 
into the bed of an earth or turf pit; and protected with 
calico, as mentioned the other week. The plants are 
thus strong, sturdy, and dwarf, before being turned 
out about the 20th of May, and need not a tithe of the 
trouble and attention they would have required if in 
pots, and are better in every way from the want of 
extra codling. They are then lifted with good balls, 
and planted, and the transplanting check causes them 
to bloom more early and freely. 
One peculiarity here is worthy of notice, namely, 
having only one shoot for a plant. Success, I believe, 
greatly depends on this simple fact. I have seen cases 
where the tubers were merely divided, and two or 
three shoots retained for a plant, but the result, 
generally, was abundance of foliage, and a great lack | 
of flowers. In connection with this, early and massive ; 
flowering will greatly depend upon having the plants 
pretty strong before turning them out, as then the 
check causes flower-buds to be produced at once at 
the termination of the shoot. 
