Clje Canadian Portimltarist 



VOL. II.] JULY, 1879. [No. 7. 



CHINESE PEONIAS. 



Flowers have their ins and outs as well as politicians. To-day the 

 Camellia is all the rage — every one votes for the Camellia — no lady 

 thinks of attending an evening party without a Camellia in her hair, 

 or so numerous in her boquet as to be a conspicuous feature; in short 

 the Camellia holds the reins of power. But a change comes over the 

 public mind. Gradually this beautiful flower loses its grasp of the 

 popular favor, and now it is out, and the Rose is in! No lady may 

 now appear without a rose in her hair ; no gentleman without a rose- 

 bud in his button-hole. 



So it is also with the floAvers on ^ur lawn ; we are continually 

 running from one extreme to another, lavishing all our attention upon 

 one favorite flower or two, to the neglect of others equally valuable, 

 and perhaps on the whole more beautiful. Just now the Peonia has 

 fallen into the cold shades of neglect. Why, no one can tell, for it 

 possesses many claims upon the attention of lovers of beautiful flowers, 

 and especially in this trying climate of Canada. We call the attention 

 of the readers of the Canadian Horticulturist to the Peonia, in order 

 that a neglected but beautiful flower may find among us the position 

 which its many excellencies fairly entitle it to hold among the 

 adornments of our lawns. As has been already intimated, the Peonia 

 possesses the very important quality of being perfectly hardy, able to 

 endure the "cold of our severest winters without protection, and to 

 stand the heat of our fiercest summers. This is no unimportant 

 quality. There is no need of anxiety in the choice of location, lest the 

 cold of winter injure it, or of seeking shelter beneath some favoring 

 shade from the mid-summer sun. No gathering of material on the 

 approach of wyiJtf r to spread over the Peonias, to be carefully carted 

 away when spring returns, is needed. The foliage as it dies down 

 when the season of rest approaches nicely covers the crown, and 



