250 11EMAKKS ON THE MOUTAN PjEONY. 



Flora Japonica, printed 1T84 (page 230), confounds the Saku Juku 

 and Botan together, referring both, most absurdly, to the Pseonia 

 officinalis of LinNjEUS, and states that the}' are cultivated in every 

 garden of Japan. The Saku Jaku of Keerapfer is, according to the 

 printed opinions of those who have attended to Paeonies, referable to 

 the species well known in our gardens as P. albiflora, though neither 

 of the varieties mentioned by him have white flowers. 



All the Moutans are sufficiently hardy to bear exposure in the 

 open ground in the winter. The Banksii has been considered the 

 hardiest; but neither that nor Papaveracea appear to suffer from 

 frost, and they are, consequently, frequently planted in the borders 

 ol gardens ; they will all grow in a northern aspect, and perhaps such 

 a situation may be better suited to them, than one where they would 

 receive more of the direct influence of the sun. But though they 

 are not hurt by the severity of winter when planted out, the chilling 

 blasts of our springs have very injurious effects on them, and both 

 the leaves and flowers are often cut and injured when entirely unpro- 

 tected at that season. From this cause, those who desire to have 

 them in the greatest perfection, give them a covering of glass, under 

 which the beauty of the blossoms and the delicacy of the foliage is 

 perfectly preserved. They ought however to be planted in a border, 

 in preference to being kept in pots. Warmth from fire or steam is 

 not necessary to them ; they are brought earlier into flower by heat, 

 but not improved by it. The best mode of protecting them, and at 

 the same time of having them in perfection, is that of glass frames, 

 or houses without flues : these may be made of any dimensions that 

 fancy may require. 



The propagation of Moutans, upon their first introduction, was a 

 matter of considerable difficulty; they have, consequently, borne a 

 high price in the nurseries ; and though they are now multiplied 

 extensively, yet, with all the experience which has been acquired, 

 the obtaining strong new plants of them is a tedious operation. All 

 modes of propagation have been tried with them, viz. by seeds, 

 suckers, grafts, cuttings and layers. They rarely produce perfect 

 seeds, but would probably do so more frequently if the impregnation 

 of the stigmas was properly attended to. The seedlings which have 

 hitherto been obtained, as may be observed from the accounts of such 

 in the former part of this paper, are but few. Suckers, or rather 

 root- shoots, may sometimes be severed successfully from large old 

 plants, and such soon become strong enough to flower. If the work 

 is carefully executed, grafts of the rarer sorts may be fixed on pieces 

 of the roots of the more common. These pieces of roots must be es- 



