08/23/2026
A reminder for Central coast locals;
Today at the Capitola Mall, Capitola CA. The Monterey Bay Dahlia Society has their annual Dahlia show, open free to the public.
This also reminded me of this piece I wrote some years ago.
I hope you'll enjoy.
Its not hard to imagine why the Dahlia flower was held in such high regard by the Aztecs and other Sun worshiping pre- Columbian peoples.
The dahlia flower was a solar symbol worn by Moctezuma and his nobles.
Native to Mexico and South America it has been cultivated for centuries as both a food crop, medicinal and utilitarian plant.
“The Aztecs used them to treat epilepsy, and employed the long hollow stem of the (Dahlia imperalis) for water pipes. The indigenous peoples variously identified the plants as "Chichipatl" (Toltecs) and "Acocotle" or "Cocoxochitl" (Aztecs).
From Hernandez' perception of Aztec, to Spanish, through various other translations, the word is "water cane", "water pipe", "water pipe flower", "hollow stem flower" and "cane flower". All these refer to the hollowness of the plants' stem” – wiki
Its roots were valued both for the nutritious inulin stored inside them and for the antibiotic compounds concentrated in the skin of the tubers.
Indeed, the roots or ‘tubers’ are still grown today as a food crop in South America and parts of Mexico.
Of the many cultivars that exist today, (nearly 50,000 named varieties have been listed in various registers and classification lists), they all have likely originated from just two or three species in Mexico.
The flowers can be from only a few inches in diameter up to a foot or more (‘Dinner Plate’) and are brightly colored in either solids or bi-colors in nearly every hue except blue.
Some of the many flower forms available are described as; single, anemone, collarette, orchid, peony, ball, cactus, decorative, fimbriated, waterlily, and novelty (meaning any form not covered by the previous categories!) you can find descriptions of these many forms on line or in the ‘Sunset Western Garden Book’.
Unfortunately, all the Dahlias I have encountered lack any floral fragrance. They do however (the smaller forms) make nice cut flowers with a vase life of about a week.
Having grown them as such for the commercial market they do require some care with support during growth to avoid stem breakage and are fairly heavy feeders in poorer soils.
The dahlia was declared the national flower of Mexico in 1963.
Relatively easy to grow even in pots, as all of mine are,
(gophers like ‘em better than Aztecs do),
For more info on growing Dahlias you can contact the Monterey Bay Dahlia Society https://www.mbdahlias.org/
Dahlias are a great addition to any garden!
Pictured is a ‘name unknown’ cultivar ('Solar Flare'?) that was growing in my garden back in 2017 with a 9” flower, semi "Cactus" form .
(I hope Moctezuma would approve!)
~S
