636 



CARDE!^ERS' CHRONICLE 



slip, P. sikkmensis gilded the marshes. Caltha scaposa is very 

 abundant. C. pahistris is not found in Sikkim. Anemones, 

 Potcntilla. Draba. Saxifmga, Arcnaria and other alpine plants 

 are abundant.' Truly, it is another case of 'killed by kindness," 

 for are not all my losses caused by the south wind and the 

 long continued drought? 



"A few years since, when we had frost for a considerable 

 duration, registering 22 degrees, and snow, I lost comparatively 

 few rock plants." 



This may, at least in part, explaiti why in the garden 

 in which the writer has made most of his observations 

 this year the peonies did so much better than they did in 

 any other site near. They were sheltered, somewhat, 

 from the west winds by tall trees. They have here, in a 

 situation well drained but lying rather low, a soil that is 

 solid and not readily dried. Then they have been care- 

 fully groomed also, to use a term em]:iloyed in connection 

 with competitive exhibitions of character quite dilTerent 

 from that of peony shows. That these very plants have 

 borne the blooms which in recent years have captured 

 the most coveted prizes at the national exhibitions indi- 

 cates that they are in good general condition. 



But thev have differed, one from the other, in their 

 blossoming this year. The conclusions derived from their 

 behavior during this one most tryii:g year may not be 

 altogether dependable ; but they are possibly worth}- of 

 attention and may be of some guiding value. 



As might have been expected, those that endured best 

 the idiosyncrasies of the unnatural Winter and Spring 

 were the reds. Even Richard Carvel, like the oificitialis 

 varieties, was undaunted by the two periods of late 

 severe freezing that corresponded to the two mentioned 

 in the article quoted above. It thoroughly demonstrated 

 its value as the best early red, of .shade just as pleasing 

 as ever before, with its characteristic fragrance and of 

 size apparently not affected by the ordeal to which its 

 blossom buds' had been subjected. Somewhat reduced 

 in size of individual blooms and in general display was 

 the one so admired for its dark and rich maroon. Mon- 

 sieur ]\Iartin Ca^uzac ; several of the terminal buds on 

 each plant were much injured by the late frost so that 

 they gave way to the laterals. This, by the way, was 

 the almost universal case with peonies this year; in dis- 

 budding, even when the terminal bud gave promise of 

 making a flower, it seemed best to allow one of the 

 laterals, which had suft'ered less through developing later, 

 to take all the strength of the stem. Madame Gaudichau. 

 of color nearly as du.sky as the preceding, did not perform 

 well either this year ;' but it is habitually a trifle .shy. 

 That expensive new b'rcnch prince among the reds, 

 Philippe Rivoire, was similarly unsuccessful in attempt- 

 ing to vaunt himself. But with these exceptions all 

 varieties of the color proved their worth as resisters of 

 untoward Spring weather. Karl Rosenfield, W'illiam F. 

 Turner and Adolphe Rousseau formed good blooms : Old 

 Silver Tip and Longfellow not quite so good. Much 

 better, though, than these last two products of the north 

 were two others from the same source, Lora Dexheimer. 

 not regarded as a reliable bloomer nor as a good grower, 

 and Alary Brand, of a particularly pleasing shade. 



And that brings up another point of f reakiness ; some 

 varieties, of other colors, among the seedlings that have 

 come out of cold Alinnesota. endured less well the late 

 freezing in the Spring than did many from sunny France 

 and from England, whose Winters are regularly much 

 milder than ours. Martha Bulloch, Chestine Gowdy and 

 Tud.ge luirrv made no approach at nil toward their cele- 

 brated magnificence. The terminal buds of the first two 

 swelled out large and plump ; but they failed to develop 

 blooms at all creditable. The last is an early \ariety. 

 All but two of the terminal buds on the large show plant 

 were shrivelled bv the late freezing and even the laterals 

 failed to recover. 



On the other hand, a few of Kelway's, Lemoine's and 

 Dessert's, of the daintiest coloring even, bloomed with 

 surpassing loveliness. Of Lady Alexandra Duff had 

 never before been seen more blossoms, nor larger, nor 

 better in color, nor more fragrant. Yet Luretta Pfeiffer, 

 an American product, of somewhat the same order, was 

 not greatly outdone. It is one of Brand's that is going 

 to be highly estimated when it becomes better known. 

 Of others of foreign origin the most refined came out 

 of the trying ordeal with their customary exquisite dainti- 

 ness. The flowers were not so large, nor so full, nor so 

 many as usual upon Madame Jules Dessert, Alarie 

 Crousse, La Lorraine. Rosa Bonheur, Rachel (Lcmoine) 

 and Madame Auguste Dessert ; but they were certainly 

 charming and as surely appreciated in this season of so 

 few perfect peony blooms. Tourangelle fell somewhat 

 short, especially in point of size. Therese formed the 

 notable exception. This Queen of Peonies evidently dis- 

 dained the mild ease of the time of the year when the 

 elements are regularly more rigorous and was troubled 

 by the unrest. She may be pardoned this once, for she 

 is so reliable. Of the older kinds that rank with these 

 newer gems the following performed splendidly: La 

 F'crle. f)ctavie Demav and Reine Hortense. 



In class with the dainty Europeans just mentioned is 

 the American Walter Faxon. Its pre-eminently exquisite 

 coloring has never been better than it was this year and 

 its blooms were rather plentiful, though not quite of 

 normal size. And several others of American origin did 

 splendidly, so that henceforth, if the prediction be not too 

 bold to base upon the observations of this one year, the 

 name of Shaylor will be one for peony enthusiasts to 

 conjure with. Jessie Shaylor, Georgiana Shaylor, Mary 

 Woodbury Shaylor and P'rances Shaylor made a quartet 

 this season truly lovely. ( )ne of Shaylor's great prize 

 winners, however, the famous Mrs. Edward Harding, 

 behaved no better than the other whites; they all did 

 poorly, with the notable exception of Frances Willard. 

 besides Frances Shaylor. The old dependable Festiva 

 iva.viiiia did only fairly well, while Madame de Verneville 

 and Madame Emile Lemoine made almost complete fail- 

 ures. Mont Blanc, of course, .showed this year only 

 wretched a])ologies for blooms that opened only less dis- 

 gracefully than did those of L'Indispensable, a pink 

 variety of the same provoking character emp!;asized. 

 Mireille naturally was not conspicuous for much better 

 deportment. Grace Looniis. represented only by small 

 plants, gave promise of lieing a great improvement, 

 liaroness Schroeder gained no credit to itself, nor did the 

 aristocratic Glorious, nor even Le Cygne ; the exhibition 

 plant of this a year ago bore the champion blooms of 

 the national convention ; but this time it could bear but 

 a few flowers, each showing only half the wealth of 

 lovely fluffy whiteness in front of which no competitor 

 less than twelve months before had been able to stand. 

 The good later-blooming whites, Albatre and Enchan- 

 tresse, developed fair blooms, but all from lateral buds. 



Le Cygne, like many others that succumbed, would 

 have come through a little more successfully, of course, 

 if it had been willing to give its exhibition later in the 

 season. It was obviously due, in the main, to such cause 

 that Sarah Bernhardt, Madame Emile Galle and Milton 

 Hill were distinguished by their success. They all bore, 

 each one, finely characteristic blooms, the first with 

 extraordinary prodigality. The last demonstrated very 

 cons])icuouslv the freakiness of the season by being at 

 its best as early as the day after Memorial Day. For 

 another late-flowering variety, however, the grand 

 Solange, the season was disastrous ; its petals are of such 

 substance, and so compactly folded in the bud, that they 

 often develop with great <lifficulty, even in favorable 



