Excerpt from The Dahlia Manual: A Treatise on Dahlia Culture

The Dahlia derives its name from the Swedish botanist, Dr. Dahl, but for a time was also known under the name of Georgina, after Prof. George, of St. Petersburg.

Its earliest known history is not yet very old. About the year -657 Francisco Hernandez, a Spanish physician, wrote a book on plants, and among the plants de scribed he mentions Dahlia variabilis, the species from which most, if not all, of our pres ent varieties have originated. At that time it is probable that it was only known as one of the great multitude of botanical plants. Without much, if any, thought of its future usefulness, for we find nothing further in print for l3o years. It is quite probable, how ever, that some effort was made to improve and domesticate the plant toward the close of the eighteenth century, for in l787 Nicholas Joseph Thirerry de Menonville, a Frenchman, published an account of the Dahlias he had seen growing in the gardens in Mexico. Two years later, l7 89, seeds were sent from the Botanic Gardens of Mex ico to the Royal Gardens at Madrid, Spain, where it was given its present name. This lot of seedlings was lost two years later, as were several other lots sent to various places. But their stay, though brief, awakened a deep interest in the plant and its possibilities, and further attempts at its cultivation were now made in several European countries and it soon became quite popular. The work bestowed upon it, however, seems to have been more in the nature of a fad rather than intelligent study. Difficulty seems to have been encountered also in knowing how to keep the roots over to the next season.

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