Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 September 1898 — Dahlia a Popular Flower. [ARTICLE]

Dahlia a Popular Flower.

The dahlia, named after the famous Swedish botanist Dahl, appeared early In this century, and was as popular in the flower garden as were the camellias and fuchsias In the greenhouses, and still holds its o-wn. This plant, which is a native of Mexico, was practically introduced Into England by Lady Holland in 1804, as it had been lost since its first appearance some fifteen years previously, when Lady Buie imported it from Spain. During the first forty years of its popularity double dahlias were all the fashion, and since then the single varieties have had their day, while at the present time the new cactus kinds hold the foremost place. A florist writing about 1830 compared the fashion for dahlias, which was then at its height, to the tulip mania two centuries earlier, and, although the comparison is hardly correct, It shows the dahlia craze muss have been very marked to have even suggested it. — Longman's Magazine.