76 



HORTICULTURI: 



July 20, 1907 



The Dree: 



PEONIES IN 1907. 



Much pessimistic talk has been in- 

 dnlged in this year on the peony ques- 

 tion from the commercial standpoint. 

 It has undoubtedly been a disastrous 

 year for the cut flower crop on account 

 of the lateness of the season. Our 

 visit to the Dreer peony farm in 1906 

 tooli place May 29th, while this year 

 the flowers were not at their best until 

 June 19th, exactly three weeks later. . 

 This eliminates the late May and early 

 June cut-flower trade, which means 

 everything to those who grow for the 

 flowers alone. But the situation is not 

 so bad for the large seed and nursery 

 concerns, whose main dependence is 

 on the sale of roots in the fall and 

 spring. 



The Dreer peony farm, of which a 

 view is given on this page, covers 

 nearly ten acres with over 160,000 

 plants from two to five years old and 

 also a considerable acreage of one-year 

 plants. The collection embraces about 

 100 of the best and most distinct va- 

 lieties. The nomenclature question 

 has received great attention here, and 

 the years of hard and painstaking work 

 are now bearing fruit. 



A number of new varieties have been 

 added since our comments last year, 

 but not of sufficient Importance to go 

 into at this time. Interested readers 

 should refer to our issue of June 9th, 

 1906. for a review in detail of the most 

 striking varieties. 



RICHMOND ABROAD. 



The colored plate of rose Richmond, 

 sent out with The (Giarden for June 22, 

 does not do Justice to this grand rose 

 as we are accustomed to see it in this 

 country, either in color or in vigor of 

 growth. Indeed, the stems as shown 

 would not gain admittance to the No. 2 

 class as these roses are graded in 

 American cut flower markets. 



THE PEONY. 



Address of J. Eliot Colt before Ameri- 

 can Peony Society, Itbaca, N. Y., 

 June 27, 1907. 



Gentlemen: — Up to the middle of 

 the 19th Century the only peony which 

 was known to any extent in America 

 was the old double red of our grand- 

 mothers' gardens. It was compara- 

 tively common throughout the extent 

 of the Atlantic seaboard, and its large 

 vivid red blossoms with their dis- 

 agreeable soapy odor were familiar to 

 everyone. Even to the present day 

 this flower comes into the mind of 

 perhaps the average American when 

 the peony is mentioned. For various 

 reasons this old peony was looked 

 upon as a vulvar, indelicate and un- 

 refined flower, and while it was toler- 

 ated in the yards of the common 

 people, it was rarely if ever given a 

 prominent place in the collections of 

 wealthy and discriminating flower- 

 lovers. 



However, a s:reat change in senti- 

 ment was destined to take place, and 

 this was brought about by the intro- 

 duction of the species Paeonia albi- 

 flora, popularly kuov/n as Chinese or 

 Chinensis peonies. This species bore 

 single white flowers with many buds 

 upon a single stalk. Under the stress 

 of cultivation by the Chinese and later 

 by M. Lemon, Victor Verdier, M. 

 Guerin and others of France, it sported 

 into many shades of red and all de- 

 grees of doubleness. It possessed all 

 the beauty of the old officinalis type 

 and also combined fragrance with 

 great hardiness. I consider the species 

 albiflora therefore as responsible for 

 the great wave of popularity which the 

 peony has undergone, and as evidence 

 I offer the fact that the vast majority 

 nf the popular varieties on the Ameri- 

 can marliet today belong to this 

 species or contain a large share of 

 albiflora blood. 



Peony History. 



The history of the peony previous to 



1650 should be treated in two parts, for 

 before that date the peony of the 

 Greek and Latin literature was the 

 Paeortia officinalis which is wild in 

 Southern Europe. The ancient history 

 of I', mo'itan and P. albiflora, however, 

 lies entirely in China and Japan, as 

 previous to 1656 neither of these 

 species were known to Europeans. 



It is the species P. offlcinalis which 

 probably secured for the genus its 

 name. The genus Paeonia was so 

 named liy the ancients in honor of 

 Paeon, a physician, who cured the 

 wounds received by heathen gods 

 during the Trojan war. Antiquity 

 celebrates the virtues of this plant and 

 places it among the wonders of the 

 vegetable creation. Fable gives \is its 

 origin, Aesculapius its properties, and 

 superstition ranks it among mira- 

 culous plants, assuring us that demons 

 will fly the spot where it is planted, 

 and that even a small piece of root 

 worn around the neck is suflScient to 

 protect the wearer from all kinds of 

 encroachment. 



The Tree Peony. 

 In A. D. 536, the Chinese in a gen- 

 eral way distinguished two kinds of 

 peonies: the Sho Yo or common kind 

 which is known as P. albiflora ;and the 

 Mew Tang (Mow Tan) or improved 

 kind which we recognize as P. mou- 

 tan. In their flower gardens, the 

 moutans claimed first place in point 

 of beauty, and the Sho Yos took sec- 

 ond place. For this reason the former 

 were often called Hwa Wang, "King 

 of Flowers," and the latter Hwa Seang, 

 "The King's Ministers." I am indebt- 

 ed to an ancient Chinese horticultur- 

 ist. Hung King, who wrote in 536 A. 

 T).. for the information that the orig- 

 inal native home of the tree peony is 

 the valley of Pa Keun, in the des- 

 trict of Hang Chung, in the easterly 

 part of the province of See Chuen, 

 together with the neighboring south 

 part of Shen Se, or the country about 

 the two rivers Kea Lin Keang and 



