Photography via Meadowburn Farm.
Over the course of a century, history can get lost. No one knew the names of the seven kinds of heirloom dahlias still blooming every summer in author Helena Rutherfurd Ely’s Meadowburn Farm in New Jersey—until one recent day when head gardener Quill Teal-Sullivan turned detective.
Dahlias at Meadowburn Farm, circa 2015.
“Since literally tens of thousands of dahlias have been introduced since Ely’s time, I knew that identifying Meadowburn’s relics would be a long shot at best,” he said.
Clues from the Past
Dahlias have been growing at Meadowburn Farm for more than a century.
“My time as a little girl was spent out of doors in the company of an old gardener, so that while still very young, I knew more than many an older person of practical garden work, ” Helena Rutherfurd Ely later wrote, adding: “The garden has been my joy.”
And after his death in 1948, his son inherited the job.
‘Jane Cowl’
With the help of Nowotarski, Teal-Sullivan was able to confirm the identification of Dahlia ‘Jane Cowl’ (introduced in 1928, the variety was named after a famous actress).
Named for Meadowburn Farm’s first gardener, Dahlia ‘Helena Rutherfurd Ely’ is “an exquisite informal decorative dahlia,” says Meadowburn Farm.
‘Helena Rutherfurd Ely’
Old flower with a new name: Dahlia ‘Byba Vincenza’ at Meadowburn Farm.
‘Byba Vincenza’
‘Meadowburn Albert Furman’
Not available for sale this year, Dahlia ‘Meadowburn Albert Furman’ is a “butter yellow” cactus dahlia with glossy foliage.
Byba Vincenza nods under the weight of its petals. To see the rest of the heirloom dahlias collection, visit Meadowburn Farm.