More on dahlias<\/p>

How to plant, care for and grow dahlias<\/a><\/li>
Designers choose their favourite dahlias<\/a><\/li>
A gorgeous planting combination with dahlias<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>
\n
1<\/p>
They were discovered by the Spanish<\/h3>\n<\/div> It was 16th-century Spanish botanists\u00a0who noted dahlias growing wild on the hillsides of Mexico, although paintings and illustrations suggest that native civilisations had been cultivating and breeding them much earlier.
\n
2<\/p>
Some dahlias are edible<\/h3>\n<\/div> Dahlias were originally grown as a food crop\u00a0for their edible tubers. Gardeners and television presenter\u00a0 James Wong suggests<\/span><\/a>\u00a0they taste like a cross between carrot, celery and potatoes.
\n
3<\/p>
Early botanists admired their mystic appeal<\/h3>\n<\/div> In 1776 the French botanist Nicolas-Joseph Thi\u00e9ry de Menonville\u00a0was sent to Mexico. His papers stated that he was in search of the botanicals used in the treatment of gout. In fact he had been charged with stealing the cochineal insect valued for its scarlet dye. As well as collecting the insect and the prickly pear they depend on, his notes tell of the strangely beautiful flowers he had seen growing in a garden in Oaxaca – dahlias.
\n
4<\/p>
One of the earliest plants to be introduced to Europe<\/h3>\n<\/div>
Dahlia coccinea<\/i>\u00a0was one of the first species\u00a0to be introduced into Europe from Mexico in 1789, to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Madrid.<\/p>
\n
5<\/p>
Swedish nomenclauture<\/h3>\n<\/div>
Abbe Cavanilles (director of Real Madrid Botanical Garden)\u00a0named the Dahlia after Anders Dahl, the Swedish botanist, who had died two years previously.<\/p>
\n
6<\/p>
Part of the daisy family<\/h3>\n<\/div>
Dahlias belong to the Asteraceae (Aster) family\u00a0along with daisies and sunflowers.<\/p>
\n
7<\/p>
Rapid growth in cultivars<\/h3>\n<\/div>
Cavanilles noted three dahlia cultivars\u00a0Dahlia pinnata<\/i>,\u00a0D. rosea<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0D.\u00a0cochinea<\/i>. Now there are 5,692 records (including species and cultivars) on the RHS\u2019s horticultural database, with new cultivars constantly being bred.<\/p>
\n
8<\/p>
Dahlias come in all shapes and sizes<\/h3>\n<\/div>
Dahlias range from dwarf plants\u00a0ideal for bedding, to giants such as\u00a0Dahlia imperialis\u00a0<\/i>found growing in the wild from Guatemala to Colombia where it can grow upwards of 6m tall.<\/p>
\n
9<\/p>
Some Dahlias are huge!<\/h3>\n<\/div>
Some cultivars have flowers\u00a0that reach beyond dinner plate size at 35cm across.<\/p>
\n
10<\/p>
Dahlias are an award-winning garden plant<\/h3>\n<\/div>
To date the Royal Horticultural Society has given125<\/b>\u00a0dahlia cultivars<\/span><\/a>\u00a0an Award of Garden Merit, noting them as particularly garden worthy.<\/p>
\u2022 For a practical guide to growing dahlias try\u00a0The Plant Lover\u2019s Guide to Dahlias<\/em>\u00a0by Andy Vernon (Timber Press, \u00a317.99. ISBN\u00a0978-1604694161) . The book gives growing tips, ideas on planting combinations, tips on how to undertake your own breeding and a good listing of where to see dahlias at their best and suppliers.<\/p>
\u00a0<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Celebrating dahlia season – here’s 10 facts you might not have known about these gorgeous late season flowers <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":26086,"template":"","categories":[1,17,51],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/10-things-you-possibly-didnt-know-about-dahlias-scaled.jpg",1707,2560,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/10-things-you-possibly-didnt-know-about-dahlias-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/10-things-you-possibly-didnt-know-about-dahlias-200x300.jpg",200,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/10-things-you-possibly-didnt-know-about-dahlias-768x1152.jpg",768,1152,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/10-things-you-possibly-didnt-know-about-dahlias-683x1024.jpg",683,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/10-things-you-possibly-didnt-know-about-dahlias-1024x1536.jpg",1024,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/10-things-you-possibly-didnt-know-about-dahlias-1365x2048.jpg",1365,2048,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Celebrating dahlia season - here's 10 facts you might not have known about these gorgeous late season flowers","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/26085"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

They were discovered by the Spanish<\/h3>\n<\/div> It was 16th-century Spanish botanists\u00a0who noted dahlias growing wild on the hillsides of Mexico, although paintings and illustrations suggest that native civilisations had been cultivating and breeding them much earlier. \n2<\/p>

Some dahlias are edible<\/h3>\n<\/div> Dahlias were originally grown as a food crop\u00a0for their edible tubers. Gardeners and television presenter\u00a0James Wong suggests<\/span><\/a>\u00a0they taste like a cross between carrot, celery and potatoes. \n3<\/p>

One of the earliest plants to be introduced to Europe<\/h3>\n<\/div> Dahlia coccinea<\/i>\u00a0was one of the first species\u00a0to be introduced into Europe from Mexico in 1789, to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Madrid.<\/p>

Swedish nomenclauture<\/h3>\n<\/div> Abbe Cavanilles (director of Real Madrid Botanical Garden)\u00a0named the Dahlia after Anders Dahl, the Swedish botanist, who had died two years previously.<\/p>