THE BOOK OF THE PEONY 



season of bloom which lasts from three to four 

 weeks. Reference to their comparative time of 

 bloom within this season is made in column 7. 

 In the vicinity of New York the earliest varieties 

 begin to flower during the last week in May. 



Fragrance 

 Fragrance is so largely a matter of personal 

 preference that I hesitate to mention it in my 

 list. The American Peony Society has adopted 

 a plan of marking fragrance as follows : pleasant 

 odour, single, double or triple X; unpleasant 

 odour, single, double or triple X. I have found 

 these descriptions misleading and, as the sense of 

 smell is extremely variable, I fear others may 

 likewise be disappointed. For example, Madame 

 D. Treyeran is marked by the Society: "Fra- 

 grance, pleasant, XXX." In my opinion this 

 flower has merely the suggestion of a pleasant 

 odour. In my Main List I have simply marked 

 those that are fragrant with an X. This runs 

 the entire gamut from a pleasant freshness of 

 odour up to intoxicating fragrance. The degree 

 of sweetness had best be decided by the pros- 

 pective purchaser according to his own keenness 

 of perception of perfume values. When scent 



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