- Author: Jenni Dodini
While sightseeing in Oregon, we went to Shore Acres State Park. It is a beautiful, oceanside expanse that was once somebody's lovely home. While wandering about, we noticed a sign with an arrow pointing the direction to the Botanical Gardens. YEA!!! There was another sign posted about the upcoming Dahlia Festival, so, interest piqued, in we went. There were four plots of simply incredible dahlias. I can only imagine what the gardens will look like when the festival happens! Steve took the picture below so that I could demonstrate how large the flowers are.
Just for the record, I have not had the best of luck with dahlias in my yard. I will just blame the underground creatures because the couple that are in pots have done fine. I love them, but mostly I admire them in other people's gardens.
Anyway, I looked dahlias up on the Internet since I am away from my books. I'm not a big fan of Wikipedia, but there was a lot of good information there. However, if you are so inclined and want some really good information on dahlias, go to the ANR (Agriculture and Natural Resources-UC) website and look at "Dahlia- Hints and Culture."
The thing that really intrigued me was the history of the plant. I had no idea. Dahlias are native to Mexico and are the National Flower of Mexico. The Spaniards reported finding the plants way, way back in 1525. Their medicinal value was noted in the late 1500s. In 1789, the Director of the Botanical Garden of Mexico City sent "plant parts" to the Director of the Royal Gardens of Madrid, Antonio Jose Cavanilles. The "parts" bloomed the same year, and again the next year. Cavanilles shared "parts" with several other botanical gardens in Europe. In 1791, Cavanilles named the plant "Dahlia" in honor of the Swedish botanist Andreas Dahl.
I always like to appreciate the culinary and medicinal values of plants. The Aztecs used the tubers as a food crop, the large tubers are sweet potato like. The Spaniards were not so crazy about the tubers though. They are still used as staple in Oaxacan cuisine as well as an additive to beverages throughout Central America. The tubers have a mocha flavor. The Aztecs also used the stem, which is hollow, to transport water. (Perhaps, the first straw??). Medicinally, the tuber was used as a treatment for epilepsy and also diabetes. The insulin is a naturally occurring hormone in the tuber which helped control elevated blood sugar to some extent prior to the discovery of insulin. There was nothing in the articles to explain how the tubers helped to control epilepsy. (Perhaps another round of research at another time.)