Dahliengarten (dahlia garden) at IGA Berlin 2017
Dahlia garden at IGA Berlin 2017

Dahlia cultivars at display in Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Berlin, Germany
The International Garden Exhibition in Berlin in 2017 (IGA Berlin 2017) featured various display gardens including a Dahliengarten (dahlia garden). Dahlias are native to Mexico. In 1790, Vincente Cervantes (1755-1829), director of the botanical gardens in Mexico City, sent dahlia seeds to the Spanish taxonomic botanist Antonio José Cavanilles (1745-1804) in Madrid, who started growing dahlias in Spain. The genus Dahlia belongs to the plant family Asteraceae. Cavanilles derived the Latin genus name to commemorate the Swedist botanist Anders Dahl (1751-1789).

After being cultivated in Madrid in the 1790s, it didn't take very long for dahlia plants to show up in gardens throughout Europe. Over the following years, about 100 newly named dahlia cultivars became known each year. And the list of new hybrids is still growing. The dahlia garden in Berlin featured some of the most dazzling dahlia cultivars, showcasing their broad range of flower types and variations in size, color and floret patterns. Here is my collection of favorites: ‘Akita’ - ‘Cryfield Harmony’ - ‘Dzivite’ - ‘Elsie Huston’ - ‘Gute Laune’ - ‘IGA Rostock’ - ‘Philadelphia’ - ‘Red Fox’ - ‘Stadt Würzburg’ - ‘Traute’ - ‘Vielliebchen’.

References and more information: The Dahlia: An Early History | Dahlien (in German).
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IGA Berlin 2017