DAHLIA: DIGNITY
The symbolism of dahlias may have subconsciously increased my love for them.
Once upon a time I was reading a book and the main character was leaving a halfway house in the early morning, having not gotten along well with the other girls in her time there. At the foot of every door on her way out she left a single dahlia, explaining to us, the readers, the symbolism in this behavior: she was leaving with dignity.
I love it.
The first record of Dahlias that we have actually comes from the Aztecs. This is new information to me, and I really love the Aztecs and have studied them extensively, (a fully college semester in fact). But it was from them the Spanish were introduced to the flower. It's tubers were used both for eating and medicinal purposes.
Personally, I love how symmetrical they are. They have SO many delicate, perfect petals that perfectly reflect one another, and often create a multi-layered star pattern.
They come in a large variety of colors. And some can grow to be as large as a dinner plate. In fact, they're called Dinner Plate Dahlias.
I love this illustration I found on www.mailgardenshop.co.uk. It sums
My sister used them in her wedding several years ago, and this was my first close encounter with them, as her's were the first wedding flowers I had ever worked on. (Alas, my own wedding does not count because I didn't want to stress about it and therefore didn't really care. Regrets :-( ... )
She got married in October and I love how she embraced the fiery oranges and yellows of the season, and set them off against the dark-burgundy of the dahlias and blue delphiniums seen in the aisle pic below.
Isn't my sister so lovely?
And I love how her aisle flowers turned out.
I would lastly like to point out that there are various shapes of dahlias, and one does resemble a zinnia. Here's a visual comparison for you. The zinnia is on the left. Similar shape, lots and lots of petals
And just because I love them so much, here are a few more dahlia pics to enjoy before the weekend.
Lemon Blossom Designs
Edyta Szyszio
Violet and Verde
Flirty Fleurs
Violet and Verde
Well that's all for today's floriography lesson. Hope everyone learned something new! Watch for next week's post on the care and handling of Dahlias, as they do require a few extra-special steps to keep them happy and healthy longer in a vase.
Which color dahlia is your favorite? Leave a comment below!
(A special credit to Leanne's Flowers for the first image of this post.)