David Howard dahlia: The search was worth it.
(Read article summary)Seeing pictures of David Howard dahlia in some garden books lead to a search to find it. It turned out to be just as appealing as expected.
Garden book junkie – that’s me. If I find a photo or idea that I can use for a client's landscape, I feel that the book has been worth it.
Recently I took an idea from Stephen Orr’s wonderful book "Tomorrow’s Garden."
I saw a great photo of grasses planted on a grid and used the idea as a frontage for a meadow that was a bit unruly. Worked perfectly.
See a photo, want the plant
So you won’t be surprised that I find new plants or appealing plants in some of these garden books and then must grow them myself.
Such is the case with a whole series of Christopher Lloyd books. I’d seen so many photos of the dark-leaved, glowing-orange dahlia ‘David Howard’ that I had to find it.
‘David Howard’ turned up at the well-known Plants Delight Nursery in North Carolina (although other nurseries carry it, too). I was pleased that instead of sending a shriveled tuber, they sent a started plant that is already blooming for me despite the 100-degree temperatures of a few weeks ago. I thought the heat would send it into a tailspin but here it is, blooming away!
