Every flower has its story and place in history. The dahlia is no exception. Today it is commonly known as the national flower of Mexico. But how did it become so popular that it is now available all over the world? When in season, these flowers can be found at just about every florist.
They are popular to grow, as well as to gift when you need to send flowers for somebody’s birthday or any other occasion. They are great garden flowers due to their long blooming season, and they last really long as cut flowers too.
Being the national flower of Mexico, it is quite fitting that this flower originates from Mexico itself. The ancient Aztecs were very familiar with cultivating it, and the first kind of Dahlia to be discovered by people outside of Mexico was the tree Dahlia. It has a hollow stem and grows to a height of approximately 20 feet! The Aztecs, a resourceful people, used these flowers as a source of water. The cut stems could also be refilled and used to carry water. When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, they conquered the Aztec people and had their botanists take various plants from the land back to Spain with them. One of the plants that they chose to take was the tree Dahlia.
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