A Little Maryland Garden 33 
are some plants that have been brought 
by cultivation to a perfection of growth, 
foliage, and flower, which started with 
few gifts. Take the wild peony as it grows 
on the California hillsides. You will find it, 
perhaps, at the edge of the chaparral, under 
a wild cherry-tree. Its foliage alone would 
call your attention to it, for it is graceful, 
not deeply cut, and of the freshest, daintiest 
green. But the flowers are not at all beauti- 
ful, though they are odd and interesting. 
They are a dark mahogany red, with single 
petals of a rather thick texture, set about 
the clustering stamens. It grows well, and 
makes a charming-looking wild plant. But 
contrast it with the handsome result that 
centuries of cultivation have given us. 
The peony of our gardens still grows 
with restraint, and the foliage is hand- 
some, but the flower, from its simple be- 
ginning, has taken on the sheen of satin, 
and goes through a range of exquisite 
colours. Peonies, with their silken texture 
and subtle tints, are among the noblest 
3 
