CHAPTER IV 



EXTENDING THE PERIOD OF BLOOM 



THE peony is sometimes criticised on the 

 ground that its period of bloom is not suffi- 

 ciently long. The peony does not have the char- 

 acteristic of other perennials such as the larkspur, 

 which, after being cut down, blossoms again the 

 same season; nor does it bloom as continuously 

 as the hybrid tea rose does under favom*able con- 

 ditions. But the dazzling gorgeousness of the 

 flower is more than compensation for its compara- 

 tively short life. 



While it is true that the flowers of an individ- 

 ual variety of peony will last only a number of 

 days, it is also true that by making a judicious 

 choice of different species and varieties it is easily 

 possible to have the joy of peonies in one's garden 

 for a period of six or seven weeks. Moreover, as 

 the peony has in recent years become the sub- 

 ject of so much horticultural and commercial in- 

 terest, it is undoubtedly only a matter of time 

 before the scientific plant breeders, by the em- 

 ployment of methods of selection successfully 



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