Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-29
|DAHL|AS SHOWN
IN RARE VARIETIES
Plant Found to Have Mar.
veIousIy Developed in Last
Quarter Century.
BY DIR. MARSHALL A. HOWE,
Acting Director in Chief Of the New Yorl
Botanical Garden.

Acting Director in Chief of the New York
! Botanical Garden.
The dahlia is an ornamental plant
that during the last quarter of a CEN
fury has undergone marvellous develop
ment and has made remarkable strides
in winning popular favor. In our At
lantic Seaboard States, at least, and on
our Pacific Coast the dahlia has al
ready arrived. California and New Jer-
sey vie with ecah other In producing
striking new varieties from seed.
The dahlia is invading the noun
tains and sea coast of our Southern
States, as we'll as coastal regions OF
British Columbia and Alaska, where
cool Summers and plenty of moisture
combine to produce flowers OF excep-
tional size and beauty. In our North
eastern States in the Autumn and late
Summer, it adornS the farmyard and
the garden of the villager, as well as
| the spacious country estate Of the multi
millionaire.
The present increasing popularity Of
dahlias Is due to the beauty and di-
versity of their flowers, both as to form
and color, and to the fact that, under
favorable conditions, the earlier and
freer- Towering varieties may be de-
pended upon to furnish flowers for a
| period of nearly three months, con-
| tinuing until cut down by the froStS OF
October and November They are. how
ever, essentially Autumn Towering and
are at their best in the cool, shortening
days of September and october.
Dahlia Show Scheduled.
There are many varieties of dahliaS
| now in cultivation. This Is manifest
to any one who turns to the catalogues
issued by the commercial specialists in
this field. It is obvious, also, to any
one who happens to see one OF the
Autumn flower shows, held annually in
centers of dahlia interest. such as BoS-
ton, New. Haven, New York. Trenton,
| Los Angeles and San Francisco. It will
be impressed forcibly on the mind of
any visitor to the fifteenth annual show
of the American Dahlia Society, which
| Is to be held at Madison Square Garden
next Wednesday and Thursday.
There have been complaints this sea-
son of poor results on account OF the
widely prevalent lack of rain. Last
| year the same people used the excess
! OF rain as an alibi.
Five years ago Prof. j. B. S. Norton
i. of Maryland put out booklet, entitled
| Seven Thousand DahliaS in Cultiva-
/ ton" The title refers to varieties and
not to individual plants. New varieties
| placed on the market since that date
bring the total 10 more than 5000.
Most of them are offered for sale by
American dealers.
Best Varieties Listed.
The best all-round dozen varieties.
according to this referendum, are, in
order OF popularity: Jerseys Beauty,
Mrs. I. deNer Warner, Jane Cowl, Am
bassador, Edna Ferber, Ellinor Vande-
veer, Marmion, Sycamore, Jerseys
Beacon, MaripoSa, Trentonian and Mrs.
Eleanor Martin. This list shows per-
haps little prejudice in favor OF the
big fellows" though all of them rank
high in form and color as well as in
size
Much depends upon personal taste.
and the present writer would be dis
posed to substitute Judge Marean, Mar
garet Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge,
| jr., and Palilon for four of those in the
| list, and might name Snowdrift to in
troduce a white for variety. For large
exhibition flowers, if the list were to be
extended, one could not afford to omit
Aztec Glory, Elite Glory, Fort Wash
ington, Fort Monmouth, La Roda,
Watching Sunrise, Jerseys Empress,
Siskiyou, Mrs. Frances E. Billiard and
Primula Rex.
| Any list of preferred varieties changes