Dahlia Cultivation—Part One (1853)

This article is adapted from the book The Dahlia: Its History and Cultivation, with Description of All the Best Show Flowers by Robert Hogg. It was published in 1853 by Groombridge and Sons, London. 

Although the original work is in the public domain, this article has been edited for the modern reader and contains new material. 

This version is Copyright © 2024 by Steve K. Lloyd and may not be reproduced without permission.

Biographical Introduction

By Steve K. Lloyd © 2024

Research assistance by Margaret Laverty

Robert Hogg was born April 20, 1818 in the Scottish border town of Duns, in the historic county of Berwickshire. He was schooled in law at Edinburgh University and earned an LLD (Legum Doctor) but no records were found to indicate that he ever pursued a career in that field.

Instead, in 1842 he joined the Brompton Park Nursery at the age of 24. He worked there for just seven years, leaving in 1849 to contribute to and edit horticultural works such as "Cottage Gardener", "Journal of Horticulture", and "Florist and Pomologist".

Hogg's professional interests appear to have focused on the study of fruit-bearing plants. He had published a 74-page booklet titled "Manual of Fruits" in about 1847, and in 1851 published a volume on apples which was projected to be the first of a multi-volume work titled "British Pomology". It received favorable attention, and was republished in 1859 as "The Apple and Its Varieties".

Perhaps originating from his early experience as a nurseryman at the Brompton Park Nursery, or by his later editorial work for "Cottage Gardener", Robert Hogg became keenly interested in cultivating and showing dahlias. In 1853 he published The Dahlia: Its History and Cultivation from which I have excerpted and edited a series of articles for this website.

The work which would cement Robert Hogg's reputation as a horticultural authority came in 1860 with the first publication of "The Fruit Manual". It was revised, expanded, and published in a second edition (1862) and a third (1866). When the fifth and final edition came out in 1884, the work had swelled to 759 pages.

Census records from 1871 records Robert Hogg as the owner of Stream Farm, at the time an estate of 189 acres in Heathfield, Sussex, England. On March 14, 1897 he died in London at the age of seventy-nine.

Dahlia Cultivation—Part 1 by Robert Hogg (1853)

Edited with revisions by Steve K. Lloyd © 2024

1. — Soil. Though the Dahlia will grow in almost any kind of soil, yet to produce a large proportion of good show flowers, a sound, deep, dry loam is the best. 

The situation is a matter of very considerable importance when choice can be made of it. It should not be in low damp places, because in such situations the late spring frosts prevent planting out early, as they might be cut off; and the early autumnal frosts cut them off just when in perfection of bloom. 

Then again, if the situation is greatly elevated, the plants are so much exposed to high winds, that at the time of the autumnal equinox, the plants and blooms are so shattered that very few of the latter are fit for exhibition, though ever so well protected. 

Avoid these two extremes if possible, and plant the Dahlia in a moderately-elevated situation, sheltered from the north and west winds, either with high hedges of beech or hornbeam, or a plantation at a moderate distance.

Having fixed upon, or been favored with such a position, let the ground be trenched two feet deep during the winter, laying it up in ridges to become ameliorated and pulverized. In the month of April, as soon as the ground is moderately dry, level down the ridges, and give it a good coating of manure.

2. — Manures. The best manure for such a soil is good stable-dung, well decomposed, and laid on in the spring from two to three inches thick. It should be dug in about a month previous to planting. 

For soils that are gravelly and dry, well rotted cow-dung would be preferable, on account of its being cooler and more retentive of moisture. In thin, moory [marshy; ~Ed.] kind of soil, a mixture of loam and cow-dung would be an excellent manure, giving a firmer staple for the roots to take hold of. 

Some soils contain a large portion of inert vegetable matter, such, for instance, as an old worn-out garden. For such, a good dressing of lime would be serviceable, not only for the Dahlia, but for every kind of flower grown in the open air. 

Then again, if the soil is of a heavy close texture, a good coating of rough river sand, in addition to the stable-dung, would help to open it. Such a soil should have two or three diggings or trenchings to break it up and open it.

After the plants have attained some growth, they will be greatly benefited by a mulching of a yard in diameter round the stem of each plant. This mulching should consist of a suitable manure for the kind of soil the Dahlias are planted in. If a deep loam, a thin covering of littery manure. If hot and dry, then use cow-dung. And if poor and gravelly, a good coating of manure from the pigsty has been found very efficacious.

Liquid manures in dry, hot summers on poor, thin soils are a very useful application. No doubt guano water, not too strong, would be a stimulating and most excellent one. The cultivator must study the kind of soil his Dahlia ground consists of, and apply the right kind of manure accordingly. Refer to the descriptive list we have given at the end, where all information will be found Respecting those varieties which require this mode of treatment.

3. — Planting Out. No precise day or even week can be fixed for the time or season of planting. In general the last week in May, or the first week in June, will be suitable for the northern parts of Britain. In the south a week or ten days earlier may be ventured upon for planting. 

The Dahlia will not, as is well known, bear even a single degree of frost without injury; therefore it is safer to be a week later in planting than to have the young and tender plants injured by late spring frosts. Should there be afterwards the least appearance of a frosty night let the plants be protected. 

The best and most convenient shelter on such an occasion is empty garden pots turned upside down over the plants, and removed the next morning, after the sun or warmth of the day has driven off the frost. When it is determined by the cultivator to plant out his stock, see first that the ground is in the right condition. The surface should be dry, and in a good state in other respects.

On planting out Dahlias, the height that the different varieties attain should be ascertained, so that the tall growers should be placed the farthest from the walk, and all together in one line. Nothing looks worse than to have three-feet Dahlias growing and blooming amongst such as attain the height of five or six feet. 

Some florists recommend the stakes to be driven exactly in the place where the plants are to be planted, so that there will be no trampling on the ground afterward, nor any injury sustained by the roots, which would be the case if the stakes had to be driven in after the plants have made considerable growth. This is a good method where practicable. Of course, the tallest stakes must be placed to the tallest growing varieties. 

As regards distance between the plants, it is never advisable to crowd them too much. The rows should be at least seven feet apart, and the plants six feet from each other in the row. But if the piece of ground is unlimited, these distances may be with advantage increased one foot. There is then plenty of space to walk between the rows, to examine and tie the plants, and perform any other operation that is needful, such as mulching, watering, thinning the branches, and shading the blooms. 

All these points having been duly considered and performed, then bring to the ground the plants, set out the first row, and take the first plant in the row, Make a hole of a sufficient width and depth. Turn the plant out of the pot, and plant it exactly in the center of the hole close to the stake. Level the earth round it, pressing it firmly down, and if the plant is tall enough, tie it to the stake loosely with some soft garden matting. Then place the label to it and proceed to the next, and so on to the end of the row. 

When it is completed, commence at the beginning, and take down the names of each in a book, kept for that purpose. By so doing, there cannot possibly occur any mistakes about the names at the time of taking up, unless the very unlikely thing should happen that both the label and book were to be lost. 

Should the weather and the ground be dry, a good watering to each plant should be given. The first row will then be finished planting, and the ground between it and the next should be forked over with a three or five-pronged fork. This will leave the surface free from footmarks, and open to receive the benefit of the rain, and conduct it down to the roots. 

Then commence to plant the second row with the next tallest growing varieties, following exactly the same method in every point till every row is planted.

If the plot of ground is square, or even oblong, it might have a walk down the middle. In such a case, the Dahlias should be arranged so as to form a sloping bank on each side of the walk. When in full bloom, they will form a grand appearance, and show such a galaxy of beauty as few other florists' flowers could produce. 

Where the Dahlias are grown as much for show in the garden as for exhibition purposes, such an arrangement is worth adopting, and also the arrangement of the colors. This must however be subject to the more important one of height. Still, some attention should in such a case be bestowed upon the arrangement of colors, and as that is a matter of taste. It may be safely left to the skill and judgment of the cultivator.

After they are planted, dahlias require attention, if not daily, at least every week. This attention consists in keeping the stems, as they advance in height, regularly tied to the stakes. The first ties will probably require to be made loosely, to prevent the stems from being cut with the mat, or being cramped at that place. Many fine stems have been broken off with the wind just at the place where the first tie has been made. To prevent this, let the ties be frequently examined, and either loosened or cut through, and a fresh one made. 

The mulching and watering should also be done before the plants become large, or the flowers begin to appear. The object to be aimed at being to obtain strong healthy plants before the first bloom opens.