IT’S A FLOWER fit for a princess. That’s because it was created for one.
Spring Hill Nurseries of Tipp City, OH features the Diana, Princess of Wales dahlia in its spring catalog. The cataloger, which has a three-year exclusive deal to sell the bloom in North America, plans to give 5% of sales to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund this year, and 10% next year.
The memorial fund was established to accommodate the donations that poured into Kensington Palace after Diana’s death in 1997. Grant money is awarded to dozens of charities that the princess supported – ranging from health-related foundations to benefit AIDS and leprosy victims to children’s organizations, arts benefits and groups formed to eliminate land mines.
Naming flowers after celebrities has always “been very successful for us,” says Doug Welty, director of merchandising for the catalog. Spring Hill carries George Burns and Rosie O’Donnell roses, for example. He expects much from the dahlia also. “Given Diana’s popularity and that it’s a very sexy color, and how our customers have responded to the naming of roses after celebrities, it’s going to do good for a lot of people,” he remarks.
The story of how the dahlia was developed is told in the style of a fairy tale in the catalog. It occurred before her death: Robin Marks, a gardener from the village of Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, England, was an avid dahlia enthusiast who demonstrated his admiration for the princess by creating a variety of new dahlias in her name. When they blossomed, Marks delivered four bouquets to the princess in the hopes that she would choose her favorite.
As the story goes, Diana was quite moved by the flowers and invited Marks to the palace to point out the cactus dahlia. “Its beauty was so striking, she couldn’t help but smile,” reads the copy.
Diana, bloom on.
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