The Washington herald., 1921-10-05
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Notes
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1000 DAHLIA VARIETIES
NOW ON THE MARKET.
"WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER 8, 1874.

osDSS DAhLlh NAHlEIIEs
NOW ON THE MARKET.
"A tabulation Of over 100 dahIia
catalogues OF 1921 shows that there
are about 5000 varieties now on the
market" J. d. Norton Of the Bureau
OF Plant Industry told the Botani-
cal Society at fits meeting last night
at the Cosmos Club.
Nearly 5000 other named varie-
ties grown in years past have now
disappeared from cultivation. he
said. All these have developed IN
the gardens Of Europe and America
since the wild single dahlia was in
troduced from Mexico into Euro
pean gardens a little over a hum
dred years ago.
The old fashioned baII-shaped.
regular forms. or show dahIias,
were the first double kinds de-
veloped and had their day in the
great dahlIa shows Of the second
quarter OF the nineteenth century"
he said. The miniature ball forms.
or pompons came in the ffties.
Some OF them are probably the
oldest varieties now in our gardens,
The advent Of the cactus dahIia
type in 1873 led, through hybridIza-
tion with the earlier kinds, to the
many kinds Of cactus. decorative
and peony flowered dahlias which
grace our gardens at the present
time. The show dahlias, so desir-
able in the formal days OF 1880 to
1850, have now almost disappeared
from prize collections. Even the
graceful cactus varieties which
were the fashion at the beginning
Of the twentieth century are now
far oct numbered by the great.
gloriously colored decoratives and
hybrid cactus kinds which are now
being produced more than any Other
types. especially in America"
No other flower has great a
range OF size. form and color as the
dahlia. II is so easy TO get new
kinds in flower from seed in a few
months that hundreds n new va
rieties are being named and dis
seminated each year. Probably the
5000 varieties in cultivation include
many that are very similar. On the
other hand. hundreds OF forms that
appear in the seeding beds are dis
carded as they would be OF inter
est only to the botanist and student
OF heredity.
! After a recent visit TO the Ma
tional Dahlia Show and 10 many
dahlia fanciers gardens. the follow
ing varieties have been selected az
those that will be most seen next
year in gardens where expense IS
not spared to get the most choice
kinds, Mr.. Norton explains. TT"
bronze yellow shades predomiNate
in this selection. but so do they ia
the best gardens
Decorative dahlias: Winfield Slo-
combe, orange yellow: Patrick
: O'Mara and r g. SchciT. bronze
yellow: HortuIanus Fiet. rosy sa1r
mon; Judge Marean, yeIlowish rose:
lSnowdrift. white: Cambria pink;
I Dream. salmon pink; John Lewis
Childs. rose red and yellow striped.
varying to rose red tipped white:
King OF the Autumn. golden shaded
pink in the center; InsuIinde. golden
orange.
: Hybrid cactus dahlias: Attrac-
tion. lilac rose; Edith Slocombe.
dark purple; Mrs. Edna Spencer.
Lavender pink.
Peony fowered dahIias: Edfh
Csvel, old gold and bronze: TIE e..
S. A. orange Nine. J. Ccissard.
cerese and white.
Cactus dahlias: Mrs Wa-nsr.
light flesh pink and white: DOROTHY
Durnbaugh, violet pink; +. =
Hawes. pink: Golden West. amber
Show dahlias: Maud Adams.
white tinted blush: Elsie Burgess.
white tipped lavender
Pompon: Nerissa. rose
] Duplex: Golden Sunshine. golden
yellow. overlaid salmon.
He predicted that a number NJ
fine seedlings seen in the trial
grounds this fall will soon throw
some Of the above in the shade