AprU 7, 1917 



HOETICULTURE 



451 



The Peony- Its Marvelous Advance 



Twenty years ago it was hard to sell a peony. Now 

 the call for them is yearly on the increase. Not long 

 ago one nursery had to turn down a call for 35,000 from 

 one fi.rm. Many leading growers write me that they are 

 nearly sold out and when they come to renew their plants 

 they find peonies, like everything else, have gone up. 



New and rare varieties are being developed. France 

 has given us superb ones. A Mr. Ruff, a real estate 

 man in St. Paul, Minn., had an ideal sheltered place 

 with rich sandy loam, and having ample means he se- 

 cured a large collection of as fine ones as money could 

 buy. They multiplied so fast that he soon had quite a 

 quantity. I used frequently to visit him. "Why don't 

 you sell tliem," I asked. He took the hint and got out 

 a circular. Progressive growers found he had what they 

 Ruff had his foreign favorites and the Brands showed 

 wanted. Some parties even went out from Chicago to 

 see them in bloom and he has sold thousands of dollars' 

 wortli. He spares no money in selecting them, nor do 

 his customers spare in buying. Our American growers 

 seem to keep up with the French in originating new 

 sorts. We all know what Richardson of Boston accom- 

 plished. Rosenfield has given us some fine ones, and he 

 has now twenty acres of peonies growing near Omaha. 



Years ago I visited my dear old friend, T. C. Thurlow 

 of West Newbuij, Mass. How he did love flowers ; their 

 beauty entered into his very life and he was a man of the 

 sweetest soul I ever knew. He had thousands of seed- 

 ling peonies in full bloom. The field was "like a sea 

 of glory." But he was exacting in his taste and 999 

 had to go on the rubbish pile for every one saved. The 

 sons are now putting one on the market called "Cherry 

 Hill" at $30 a root. 



At tlie summer meeting of the Minnesota Horticul- 

 tural Society there was the finest display of peonies I 

 ever saw. The glorious Junes of our northern states give 

 amjile compensation for the rigors of their winters. 

 Eufi: had his foreign favorites and the Brands showed 

 their new creations which did not seem a whit behind. 

 They had been quietly and patiently at work for twenty 

 years. Their gardens have been a mecca for lovers of 

 the beautiful. There was Mary Brand, which is prob- 

 ably the finest and largest red of all. Martha Bulloch 

 is a radiant pink. Elizabeth Barret Browning is an im- 

 mense glistening white. Richard Carvell is a deep red 

 and fragrant peony which will bloom with Eduli's 

 Superba or Decoration Day in our latitude. Prince of 

 Darkness and Midnight are dark red. 



Prices of extra fine ones seem high, but it is a ques- 

 tion of thoroughbreds or scrubs. Peonies double every 

 year or two and so cut down the initial cost in a short 

 time. It costs no more to grow the tho.roughbreds than 

 it does the scrubs, so it always pays to have the best. 



There are Eldorados and Golcondas in the floral as 

 well as in the mineral world. Diamonds do not grow 

 but your flowers do. You have read of the famous 

 Persian garden of gems, 400 feet by 90 — gems so ar- 

 ranged as to imitate flowers — a tribute of the mineral 

 world to the beauty of the floral world. And the flow- 

 ers of those days bore no comparison with the flowers 

 of our gardens. So for weeks we can outrival that mar- 

 velous garden of gems, and they will be our own. And 

 beside their superlative beauty, billows of fragrance 

 will float over and around and we can breathe their sweet 

 breath while we feast our souls on their splendor. 



Centaurea 



York, Nehr. 



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Centaurea Montana bosea. 



Tile iMpularity of the genuine cornflower is world- 

 wide. We all love the clear bright blue of the annual 

 Centaurea cyanus. When successful in growing the 

 beautiful Centaiirea imperialis to perfection I believe 

 we have reason to feel proud. The white-leaved "Dusty 

 Millers," Centaurea candidissima and C. gj'mnocarpa 

 are standard bedding plants in use for ages and our 

 stately tall growing native Centaurea americana, the 

 "Basket Flower," we have learned to treasure as an 

 efifective border plant and, in a cut state, as a splendid 

 material for domestic indoor decoration. But it is not 

 my intention to dwell at any length on the annual class 

 today. What I have in mind at present are the various 

 garden species of hardy herbaceous cornflowers more or 

 less known as valuable subjects for the mixed perennial 

 border. As a rule we seldom find them free enough for 

 a real floral mass-effect, but as most of them bloom 

 during July and August and their flowers not only prove 

 excellent for cutting but also perceptibly add in the to- 

 tal midsummer display of our gardens, it is evident that 

 they merit general attention. Thrivmg best fully ex- 

 posed to the sun in a rather light garden soil with ample 

 drainage, perfect development depends entirely on suf- 

 ficient watering. Unsatisfactory shovving is usually due 

 to lack of the necessary irrigation during hot and diw 

 weather. 



In regard to species and varieties I begin with the 

 early blooming European form Centaurea montana. At- 

 taining 2 feet in height, tlie original flowers blue, mon- 

 tana alba, white, and nioutana rosea, the subject of our 

 illustration and by far the best of the three, produces 

 large flowers of a beautiful rosy-red color admirably 

 adapted for design work. Centaurea dealbata, a species 

 from Asia Minor, and C. rigidifolia are the most desir- 

 able rose-pink colo.red for midsummer displays, while 

 Centaurea macrocephala and the tall very decorative C. 

 ruthenica rejiresent the most conspicuous of the yellow 

 types. The latter is distin,guished by loosely built 

 feathery flowers of a beautiful light sulphur, born on 

 tall slender stems averaging 4 feet in height. 



Perennial centaureas may be raised from seed sown 

 in cold frames early in spring or propagated by divisions 

 of old plants. For winter protection they require a light 

 covering of manure, straw or leaves. 



Glenside, Pa. 



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