Welcome to the Historic Dahlia Archive

In addition to my passion for growing dahlias and spreading reliable information about propagating and cultivating them, I have a love of history.

In my younger years, I researched maritime history in Alaska and wrote extensively about shipwrecks in its icy waters. I have spent countless hours reading old newspapers on library microfilm, and many more studying archival documents in dusty reading rooms.

I have applied some of my experience finding and examining old books, newspapers, catalogs and journals to resurrect dahlia knowledge written and published many years ago.

I've already edited dozens of articles from books and catalogs published long ago on “all things dahlia” and there are many, MANY more to come.

These archival gems are presented here for your reading enjoyment, and for the benefit of modern dahlia growers.

The volume of my source material is astounding, and I will be constantly adding new material as my schedule allows.

Dahlia growers today have become accustomed to seeking answers on the internet. YouTube features growers enthusiastically demonstrating their techniques. Instagram entices us with gorgeous color photos of the latest must-have dahlias. Facebook groups abound with growers asking dahlia questions, which are quickly (but not always correctly) answered by a host of helpful commenters.

Some of the tips and techniques you’ll read about here seem hopelessly out of date, and to us they are.

Plastic plant tags, watering hoses, seed trays, humidity domes, heat mats, grow lights, wine fridges–all these inventions did not exist when pioneering dahlia breeders and growers were figuring things out for themselves.

However, much of the knowledge these long-gone dahlia propagators, cultivators and exhibitors shared with their readers still holds true. There is a treasure trove of vintage dahlia knowledge to be found here.

The writing style of most of these authors tends to be a bit wordy to the modern reader. They often go on at great length without a single paragraph break, and barely a sentence break. To make their wisdom more accessible, I have edited each article to make it a bit easier to read, primarily by shortening sentences and creating paragraph breaks where appropriate.

Since part of the charm of reading these excerpts was enjoying the vocabulary these writers used, I have retained much of their original spelling and word choices except where clarification was important.

Where you see words in square brackets [like this], they signify an editorial clarification that I inserted to help clarify an obsolete reference or plain bad advice.

Although I have tried to make the formatting simple to allow readers to enjoy the Dahlia Archives on phones and tablets, the best experience will be enjoyed on a full-sized computer screen.

Get ready to dig into the dahlia knowledge of yesteryear. I hope you enjoy reading about how things used to be in the world of dahlia growing, and that you find a few tips to bring an old-fashioned touch to the way you garden.