tubers – Gardeners Tips

Dahlia History and the Blue Dahlias

May 4, 2014 hortoris

Wish List

Today’s hybridisers are still seeking the true blue Dahlia. We would also like one with a scent and if it was frost hardy that would be a triple bonus but then again it may not be a Dahlia at all. If you want to name a variety you have selected and grown yourself the National Dahlia Society publish the rules for naming and the register of existing names is maintained by the RHS.

Dahlias a History

The National Dahlia Society publish a history of the Dahlia from which the excerpts below have been taken
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Bishop’s Dahlias and Bishop’s Children with Dark Foliage

August 6, 2013 hortoris

Should Bishops have children? Should gardeners nurture these children? I would say so!

Question What has dark red leaves and flowers like a trouper until the first frost?

Answer One of the Bishop’s family of Dahlias.

Bishop’s Offspring

Bishop of Llandaff is one of the earlier varieties flowering as a semi-double in pillarbox red.
Bishop of Cardiff flowers as a single with yellow petals with a red center.
Bishop of Auckland flowers red with many yellow stamen in the center. Bishop of Canterbury is similar but the flowers err towards magenta. Bishop of Lancaster seems very similar to me.
Bishop of Oxford is a strong plant flowering orange.
Bishop of York is a bit smaller but has nice single buttercup yellow flowers.
Bishop of Leicester has pale mauve flowers. The contrast with the leaf colour highlights the pale flowers.
Bishop of Dover is virtually white in flower.
Bishop of Cambridge is just another Dahlia trying to jump on the ecclesiastical band wagon.

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