14 



HOKT I CULTURE 



July 3, 1920 



RAMBLING OBSERVATIONS OF 

 A ROVING GARDENER 



It was my pi'ivilege to spend an 

 hour or two at the height of the peony 

 season this year at the home of Mr. 

 E. J. Shaylor, whose hybrids have 

 made him famous from coast to coast. 

 Mr. Shaylor's home in Auhurndale is 

 a delightful place, located as it is on 

 the top of a high hill, with miles of 

 view stretched out like a curtain be- 

 fore the broad veranda. Thoreau's 

 much quoted remark about the pub- 

 lic wearing a beaten path to the door 

 of the man who did something a 

 little better than anyone else might 

 well api>ly to Mr. Shaylor, for a steady 

 procession of men and women, many 

 of whom are famous in the horticul- 

 tural world, climb the hill leading to 

 his home, as long as the peony sea- 

 son lasts. The day before I was 

 there, for example, one of the visitors 

 had been Mr. W. H. Haveraeyer, who, 

 I understand, left an order which 

 called for only a few plants and a 

 large check. As a matter of fact, it 

 is not unusual for .Mr. Shaylor to sell 

 peony roots for a hundred dollars. 

 That is the highest price he has yet 

 obtained, but he is nursing along a 

 seedling for which he expects to get 

 two hundred dollars. I think that he 

 is justified in this expectation, too, for 

 the flower is one of the loveliest ever 

 seen in the peony world, having with 

 its cream white petals and its heart 

 of gold about every quality which a 

 peony should possess. 



It is not a big garden which Mr. 

 Shaylor carries on, and the orders 

 oftentimes come in faster than he can 

 fill them, especially for the newer 

 and rarer varieties. He told me that 

 he had sent back a large amount of 

 money because he could not supply 

 the plants. Not infrequently, he said, 

 people from various parts of the coun- 

 try would send him a check for 

 amounts running as high as five hun- 

 dred dollars, simply specifying that he 

 send them an assortment of peonies 

 such as he might choose. 



It is a delight to talk with Mr. 

 Shaylor, especially when walking 

 through the rows of blooming plants, 

 because of the rare enthusiasm of the 

 man and his obvious affection for the 

 creatures of his handiwork, and the 



bubbling good humor which came 

 ever to the surface. He is no longer a 

 young man, and has given twenty 

 years of his life to this work, making 

 a success such as that which conies 

 to few men. 



Mr. Shaylor said that he, like many 

 The plant is a robust one, and the 

 flowers are borne profusely. Wilton 

 other peony growers, was working in- 

 dustriously to obtain a pure yellow- 

 peony, and expected that in the proc- 

 ess of time it would be evolved. He 

 already has peonies with very yellow- 

 centers, from which he has bred out 

 the pink petals so that they are now- 

 white. It is called Luella Shaylor. 

 This is one step in the right direction. 

 If I am not mistaken there is a stand- 

 ing offer of a hundred dollars to the 

 man who first devolves a yellow 

 peony, the flower to be named for the 

 late Mr. Harrison, of York, Nebr. 



Mr. Shaylor's garden is full of seed- 

 lings, some of which have been 

 named, while others are known as 

 yet only by number. Luella Shaylor, 

 which I have already mentioned is a 

 remarkable bloom, one of the finest 

 which Mr. Shaylor has originated. 

 Another perhaps equally good but 

 quite different in form is Mrs. Shay- 

 lor Force. This is a big, round blos- 

 som, very full, and immensely attrac- 

 tive. Still another peony with which 

 I was much enamored was a great 

 pink, fluffy seedling called Rose Shay 

 lor. In color this is one of the dainti- 

 est and prettiest blossoms in the gar- 



den. Mr. Shaylor had Wiliam F. 

 Turner blooming splendidly in spite of 

 the rains which had beaten down 

 many of the plants. The velvet like 

 petals of this dark red variety are 

 wonderfuly fine. With one exception, 

 this is undoubtedly the nearest black 

 of any peony yet originated anywhere. 

 Lockwood is also a splendid bloom- 

 er, one of the hest in the garden. 

 Unfortunately, Mr. Shaylor had no 

 specimen of Georgiana Shaylor, hav- 

 ing sold all of his stock. Wonder- 

 ful reports come from the success of 

 this peony, however. It has taken 

 prizes in various parts of the country, 

 and the most enthusiastic reports of 

 its high quality keep coming in. It 

 is one of the best things which Mr. 

 Shaylor has yet put out, but judging 

 from the character of the flowers in 

 his garden, he has yet many surprises 

 for the peony world. 



E, J, $H.4.TL,OB 



GOOD SWEET PEAS. 

 By Geo. W. Kerr 



La France is a sweet pea gem, in 

 my opinion the best deep cream pink. 

 The wings are rather deeper colored 

 than the standard, running to rich 

 rose-pink. This is extra fine. 



Joan of Arc. Deep shell-pink, prac- 

 tically a self color throughout. This 

 is indeed flrst-class and is quite dis- 

 tinct. 



Mrs. J. T. Wakefield might be briefly 

 described as an improved Mrs. J. Bal- 

 mer. The ground color being rich 

 cream, the entire flower edged rose. 

 As the flower ages it becomes suffused 

 with rose throughout. 



Hawlmark Pink is in my opinion 

 the finest novelty introduced for some 

 years. It is perfectly distinct to all 

 other pinks. The great feature, or, the 

 predominating beauty of the flower is 

 in the rich coloring of the wings which 

 are decidedly deeper in color than the 

 standard though at the same time the 

 variety might be described as a pink 

 self. The color is very difficult to de- 

 scribe, but it might be said to be a deep 

 shell-pink with a slight suspicion of 

 orange which adds an unusual bright- 

 ness to the flower. The standard is 

 decidedly lighter in color than the 

 wings. This is the Pink seedling for 

 which I was awarded a certificate at 

 the New York Show last June. 



Daisy Bud is a flrst-class blush-pink 

 with flowers of great size, and a decid- 

 ed preponderance of double or duplex 

 flowers. A strong grower, it bloomed 

 most freely with me last June during 

 adverse weather conditions and when 

 other varieties had given up the ghost. 



The above are all standard or sum- 

 mer-flowering Spencers, and in addi- 



