48 AMATEUR GARDENING 6 JULY 2019
135 years of practical advice
The World’s Oldest Gardening Magazine
135 years of practical advice
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135 years of practical advice
TTTheheheWWWorldorldorldorldorld’’’
Amateur(^1884) TTT
135 years of practical advice
2019
As part of our look back at the past 135 years of
AG, the coloured plate below shows two cactus
dahlias plus text from the issue dated 6 May 1916
The views, information and opinions expressed during this series of extracts from past issues of AG are solely those of the individuals involved, at the time they were
written, and are not necessarily relevant or even legal today. Please treat these pages as a look back at how things were done in the past and not necessarily how they
are done today. AG accepts no responsibility if readers follow advice given in these articles from past issues.
T
HE dahlia has long maintained
its prestige as one of the most
attractive as well as one of the
best kind of plants for adding
lustre and beauty to the garden during
the early autumn months. When the
summer flowers are passing away it
comes in to take their place, and, in
conjunction with the border
chrysanthemums and Michaelmas
daisies, to flood the beds and borders
with a wealth of rich and glorious colour.
The dahlia is, indeed, an indispensable
Dahlias
plant. And it exists in such a number of
forms or types that it readily adapts itself
to so many purposes in the garden. The
dainty and neat pompons and dwarf
cactus sorts will lend gaiety to beds; the
beautiful cactus, single and decorative
kinds, yield a charm to the mixed border,
also a plethora of flowers for cutting; the
shows and fancies supply flowers for
exhibiting; and the quaint collarettes and
the paeony-flowered sorts furnish a
brilliant display of colour, as well as a host
of flowers for decorative purposes.
Of these types the modern race
of cactus varieties stand supreme in
richness of colour and in the beauty
of their flowers, and hence they are
cultivated the most extensively. And next
to these the comparatively new types of
collarettes and paeony-flowered dahlias
have come rapidly into popularity for
border decoration. But it may truly be
said that all the types possess a charm
and beauty of their own, and are worthy
of a place in every garden where space
can be found to grow them.
Top fl ower: ‘Salmon
Queen’. Bottom fl ower:
‘Mrs Forrester Paton’