Anything for a change from the common order of things, seems to be the
fashion now-a-days, in flowers as well as in house building and house
furnishing. The antique, the antique, is the rage! So after years of
labor and hybridization to bring the Dahlia up from its native state of
single blessedness, to its enormous cauliflower blooms, there comes a
reaction, and now single Dahlias are praised as "the most beautiful of
all flowers," the "_par excellence_ the Londoner's flower!" Well, let
the English florists thus praise its beauty if they want to, but we
opine that on this side of the great ocean it will never be considered
"the most beautiful of all flowers," however attractive some of them may
be, and well adapted for bouquets. There is no danger of their
superseding the doubles, but it is well to have both when one can afford
it; their present high price puts them beyond the reach of those whose
purses are not well filled, but in a year or two, when the novelty is
worn off, they can be purchased at half or even less, perhaps, than
their present price.
We find in the London _Garden_ the following: "Dahlia perfecta,
originally introduced by Messrs. Henderson, is perhaps the finest flower
which we possess, unless Paragon, brought into notice by H. Cannell, may
be considered to bear away the palm. Lutea, a quilled yellow, is also a
grand bouquet flower."
The single Dahlias, Paragon and Lutea, are now offered for the first
time in this country, by Messrs. Hallock & Thorp of Queens, N. Y., and
the former is finely illustrated in their catalogue. Color very dark
velvety maroon with shadings of bright scarlet around each petal; small
yellow disk. Lutea is pure yellow, with dark orange center. The same
firm offer Dahlia Juarezii, of which Mr. Cannell says: "The grandest
novelty of the year, and not only a novelty, but a most valuable and
useful decorative plant for all purposes through the late summer and
autumn months. Its blossoms are of a rich crimson, and very much
resemble in shape and color the well-known Cactus, Cereus
_speciosissimus_. Height about three feet, very bushy flowers of very
striking appearance and quite unlike those of an ordinary double Dahlia,
the flowerets being flat and not cupped. Figured in _Gardener's
Chronicle_ October 4th, 1879, and awarded a Botanical Certificate Royal
Horticultural Society."
The following statement was made in the _Gardener's Chronicle_
respecting this new type:
"A remarkable box of Dahlias was shown by Messrs. Cannell with three or
four of the single forms, which, if it were not heresy to say so, we
should so much prefer to the formal lumps so dear to the florist proper;
and then there was a new type of Dahlia altogether, a Sea Anemone among
Dahlias, with long crimson scarlet pointed petals, like the tentacles of
an Antinia--a striking novelty, christened temporarily the Cactus
Dahlia, and which will be the parent of a new strain. It received a
Botanical Certificate; some said this ought to have a higher award, but
what higher or more appropriate form of a certificate could be given to
such a flower. If we were a Dahlia, we should greatly prefer the honor
of a 'Botanical,' to that of a 'First Class Certificate.'"
This new type is illustrated in Hallock & Thorp's Catalogue.
Two new Dahlias not yet introduced in this country are included among
the novelties of 1881. _Cannell's Scarlet_, a Show Dahlia, several
shades higher and brighter in color than any scarlet before introduced.
"Its shape is most model-like, and not excelled by any other, and is
without doubt the best Dahlia of the year." _Miss Cannell_,
(Eckford)--"Mr. Eckford's Dahlia, Memorial, was the king of best shapes
for many years, but the one now offered is of greater excellence, and by
far the best of its class; color white, tipped with rose-pink, and the
depth and build of flower is most model-like."