Dahlia Is Volatile

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Of course, we are talking about the plant, which in Russia is called "Dahlia", and not about the speaker of the Israeli Knesset named Dalia Itzik. Although the life story of this wonderful woman, mother of three children, is worthy of attention. But we are not fond of politics, but prefer to be engaged in decorating the Earth by growing ornamental plants, berries and fruits, vegetables and herbs. This not only turns our places of residence into Paradise, but also provides an essential vitamin supplement to our diet

Dahlia's long journey

For me, the name of this flower has always sounded like "dahlia". Either it was easier to pronounce, or the people around me were not experts in botany, or it was a defect in my hearing, but the fact that this plant is called "dahlia" and not "dahlia" was my first discovery.

The second discovery was the birthplace of the flower. From early childhood, the dahlia habitually decorating city flower beds, or rather, dahlia, turned out to be a stranger from distant and inaccessible Mexico. Today, in 15 hours (this is the minimum, as a rule, more time is spent) you can get from Moscow to the legendary country. As a child, you could visit it, reading about fascinating travel, and then daydream, making your way through untrodden paths through the tropical jungle.

Along with potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, corn, the brave conquerors of American lands brought to Europe the seeds of outlandish plants, one of which was Dahlia. In the name of the plant, Karl Linnaeus, familiar to us, immortalized the name of one of his many students (it seems that in the 18th century the profession of botany was in great demand). Dahlia did not immediately become an ornamental plant. At first, its tubers were used by analogy with potato tubers, serving.

First of all, curiosities fell into Portugal and Spain, and later slowly dispersed across European territory. Having reached Germany, the plant received another name, "Dahlia", which took root only in Russia. Apparently, the reason lies in the fact that the name immortalized the name of a German naturalist who served at the St. Petersburg Academy. By the way, he was also a student of Karl Linnaeus. In Russia, he was called Ivan Ivanovich Georgi, although the name given to him from birth sounded like Johann Gottlieb Georgi. Oddly enough, but the 18th century was more tolerant of a person's nationality than our "advanced" 21st century.

Fickle fashion

Dahlias imported from America were not particularly decorative. Their flowers were small in size, the petals were arranged in one row, and their color was, as a rule, uniform.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Belgian breeders took up dahlias. They bred varieties with double inflorescences that conquered the hearts of Europeans. Dahlia has become the most fashionable flower in gardens and salons. The wave of fashion reached the Russian lands, but it was not grown here, but brought from abroad.

By the middle of the century, through the efforts and prayers of breeders, almost three thousand varieties of Dahlia were bred. But, fashion is a changeable lady, and interest in the plant began to disappear. Abundance doesn't always end in success.

This did not stop the breeders. They continued their creative work, which resulted in varieties with inflorescences similar to those of exotic cacti. The hybrids obtained by crossing cactus and globular inflorescences were so beautiful and graceful that jaded Europeans turned their eyes to Dahlia again.

Diversity leader

Today you will not find a single flower that could compete with the Dahlia in terms of the variety of shapes, power, colors and shades.

A perennial tuberous plant does not tolerate frosty winters. With the onset of cold weather, its aboveground part dies off, and the tubers should be dug up and stored in a cool room with high air humidity. When propagated by tubers, the best decorative characteristics of the variety are preserved more efficiently than when propagated by seeds.

On the fragile hollow stems of dahlias, pinnately separated large beautiful leaves are located. The fragility of the stems often requires a garter of the bushes.

In terms of the variety of size, shape, doubleness of inflorescences, dahlia has no equal. Among the colors you will not find only blue, blue, and black, although it is possible that similar inflorescences have already been bred somewhere.