Every year Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park has an amazing Dahlia Show - this year it is next Saturday and Sunday (August 29th and 30th). I never knew how very interesting they are before I went to the Dahlia Show last year - not only do they come in many sizes, but in nearly every color except for blue and black. So, as we look forward to this year's Dahlia Show, I thought I'd share some fun facts about them with you - so you can share with the children you love!
Dahlias . . .
- Are the national flower of Mexico.
- They were cultivated by the Aztecs as food and medicine, with tubers tasting similar to potatoes.
- Aztecs called the dahlia "acocotli," meaning "water pipe," and used its long hollow stems to carry water.
- Before insulin was discovered, diabetics utilized "Atlantic starch" extracted from dahlia tubers.
- In Victorian flower language, they represent love, beauty, devotion, and elegance.
- Dahlias range in size from small bedding plants to over 6-meter-tall trees.
- Unlike most plants which are diploids, dahlias are octoploids, possessing eight sets of chromosomes, which contributes to their high variability.
- Both the tubers and the petals are edible, often used in salads or cooked.
You will find more fun facts about Dahlias at this link.
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